Corporate Europe Observatory

Exposing the power of corporate lobbying in the EU
A far-reaching trade deal between the US and EU is to be negotiated, yet the European Commission has drawn a smokescreen over who is setting the agenda for its negotiating position. Amid concerns about the deal's social and environmental impacts, as well as what it will mean for democratic policy-making, Corporate Europe Observatory tried to find out what will be on the treaty table.

 

The EU June summit will focus on the European Commission’s competitiveness agenda which is core component of the plans for a "Genuine Monetary and Economic Union". This competitiveness agenda is geared towards increasing pressure on member states to intensify the competitiveness of their economies.

The register secretariat has now informed CEO that the changes introduced by EPA "meet the requirements" and that they have therefore decided to close the case.

Key Swedish Match lobbyist in the Dalligate tobacco lobby scandal worked in the European Commission for five years. But unbelievably, when he left to become a tobacco lobbyist he was not screened for potential conflicts of interest, a clear breach of the revolving door rules in the Staff Regulations. Once again, the shoddy implementation of ethics rules by the Commission has been exposed in the wake of a big lobbying scandal. Read the whole case on CEO's RevolvingDoorWatch.

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 15th 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.

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Pesticides against pollinators

Private letters reveal Syngenta and Bayer’s furious lobbying against EU measures to save bees. Will the pesticide lobby succeed in convincing Member States to vote no to a ban?

Troika ‘with benefits’

Particularly significant is the proposal on structural reforms, first put forward last year by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. Fundamentally the Commission would require eurozone member states to sign bilateral contracts – a so-called “Convergence and Competitiveness Instrument” – on a number of structural reforms. In exchange for compliance the member state would be rewarded with financial incentives.

Pressure grows for Dalligate truth: CEO complaints on Swedish Match and OLAF

The Dalligate scandal entered a new stage last week when Swedish Match admitted that they knew a key lobby meeting with Mr. Dalli, where the alleged 60 million euro bribe was offered, had not in fact taken place, and claimed that it was EU anti-fraud agency OLAF that had instructed them to stick to the erroneous story. Corporate Europe Observatory has today taken several new steps to increase the pressure on Barroso and OLAF to clear the smoke around Dalligate, including complaints against Swedish Match and OLAF, and freedom of information requests about Swedish Match lobbyists who went through the revolving door from the EU institutions.

Even the Police can’t stop the first signs of a European Spring

After months of preparation, the days of action organised by the coalition For a European Spring erupted into life last week. However, here in Brussels the police tried to stop it: first banning a peaceful demonstration and then arbitrarily arresting people after a peaceful occupation of the European Commission’s ‘Austerity HQ’. But despite their efforts, the seeds have now been sown, and the pan-European movement against undemocratic and destructive austerity policies is growing.

The battle to keep water out of the internal market - a test case for democracy in Europe

The concessions directive, which has the stated object of opening markets and eliminating “discrepancies among national regimes”, would end the exemption that has so far existed for drinking water supply and for the first time bring it under the rules of the EU’s single market. Previous attempts to bring water under single market rules failed due to resistance from civil society and MEPs opposed to water becoming a commodity, but this time the European Parliament has been less vigilant.

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The Brussels Business: Who runs the EU?

Corporate Europe Observatory

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making.

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