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Finance sector lobbyists are pushing the European Commission to block tighter regulation of the EU’s carbon market, a new report from Corporate Europe Observatory and Carbon Trade Watch, published today, reveals.

Campaigners today called for a complete overhaul of the rules governing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), following allegations that four members of EFSA's management board have direct links to the food industry, causing conflicts of interest [1].

Lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory has today sent a letter to EU Health and Consumer Commissioner John Dalli urging him to take action after EFSA defended the conflicts of interest and said they fell within the rules.

The European Commission's new proposal on Corporate Social Responsibility reporting has been weakened by industry pressure to the extent that it is now virtually meaningless. Business lobbies, with very active support from the German government, have successfully pushed for voluntary reporting with non-binding requirements that can be selectively interpreted and would not be enforceable.

On numerous occasions over the last few months, this blog has focused on the cash-for-influence scandal in the European Parliament and its aftermath – specifically the process to develop a code of conduct for MEPs.

The EU’s policy on the cultivation and imports of genetically modified crops, flawed as it may be, is continuously under attack from the food, biotech and agribusiness industries. The animal feed industry, large importers of soy, have been taking a leading role in the current battle to speed up the EU authorisation process for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and abolish a crucial piece of EU GMO regulation, which forbids any contamination of food with traces of GM crops that are non-authorised in the EU: a zero-tolerance policy.