Corporate Europe Observatory

For the second year running, citizens from around Europe swarmed the German city of Frankfurt, headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB). Their aim: to 'Blockupy' the ECB on its 15^th anniversary. A great success in itself, it's also part of a growing movement across Europe against the austerity measures being undemocratically introduced by the ECB, European Commission and the IMF, collectively known as the Troika.

A broad range of public interest groups have today sent an official complaint to European Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta about the newly-established Tax Platform, which they claim is “fundamentally compromised”. In a stunt staged this morning, as members of the platform arrived, they denounced the Commission for “putting foxes in charge of the hen house” when tackling tax dodging.

In a ruling delivered today following a lawsuit by lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory, the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg concludes that the European Commission did not violate EU rules when withholding information about the EU-India free trade talks from the public, even though it had already shared the information with corporate lobby groups. Corporate Europe Observatory warns that this decision risks deepening the secrecy around EU trade negotiations and legitimises the Commission’s practice of granting corporate lobby groups privileged access to its policy-making, at the expense of the wider public interest.

For the first time in their history, European institutions will reform the entire package of legislation related to seed marketing. Since seeds are the starting point for the whole human food chain, this is hugely significant. From the very start of the process this policy initiative has been an unique opportunity for large seed companies to reinforce their control over a commercial seed supply system that they already largely dominate.

Leaked draft versions of the EU negotiating mandate for a far-reaching free trade agreement with the US reveal the European Commission’s plans to enshrine more powers for corporations in the deal. The proposal follows a persistent campaign by industry lobby groups and law firms to empower large companies to challenge regulations both at home and abroad if they affect their profits.