A single market for European philanthropy?

BRUSSELS — At the beginning of October, at the end of a long day, in a meeting room off the main thoroughfare inside the European Parliament, a small group met to try to revive an idea: The creation of a single market for European philanthropy.

The free movement of capital is enshrined in the treaties that form the legal basis for the European Union. But on Oct. 1, Sven Giegold, a German Greens member of the European Parliament, told the audience of around 50 civil society actors, MEPs, and officials from the European Commission that while the law facilitates pan-European companies, charitable organizations fare much worse.