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Severin: time for action

July 10, 2012 - 18:57
Vicky Cann
It is now 16 months since the cash-for-influence scandal rocked the European Parliament and led to the resignation of two MEPs (Ernest Strasser and Zoran Thaler). A third MEP, Adrian Severin of Romania was sacked by the Socialist group but refused to resign from the Parliament. After the scandal, MEPs developed a new Code of Conduct aimed at preventing this from happening again, but it only came in on 1 January 2012 and cannot be applied retrospectively. So what happened next to Severin?

L’agrobusiness essaye de s’emparer du PAC-tole de la recherche européenne !

July 9, 2012 - 12:56
Martin Pigeon

L’avenir de la Politique Agricole Commune (PAC) après 2013 est débattu actuellement. La Commission propose un budget de 4,5 milliards d’euros pour la recherche agricole. Cette proposition est hautement stratégique : les projets de recherches qui sont classés prioritaires et financés aujourd’hui, auront certainement un impact décisif sur la façon dont l’agriculture sera pratiquée dans le futur.

Another year without real transparency

July 4, 2012 - 14:40
Anonymous
The Transparency Register has not been the success the Commission claims it is. In a recent article in the European Voice (“A year of living transparently”, 21-27 June), Maroš Šefcovic, the European commissioner for administration, describes the Transparency Register as “a great success” and highlights it as proof of the EU institutions’ efforts to be “as transparent as possible”.

The MEP code of conduct: six months on

July 2, 2012 - 11:38
Vicky Cann
“The new code of conduct will be a strong shield against unethical behaviour.” That was the verdict of the then European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek who had just shepherded the new MEP code of conduct through both his own European People's Party (EPP) group and the rest of Parliament. The development of the code followed the cash-for-influence scandal which saw three MEPs disgraced for tabling amendments in return for payment or lucrative second jobs and greater transparency via the new code was supposed to stop MEPs from ending up in the pockets of wealthy lobbyists. The code came into force on 1 January 2012, so six months on – how well has it fared so far?

The MEP code of conduct: six months on

July 2, 2012 - 11:09
Anonymous

Danish Parliament takes steps towards lobbying transparency

June 29, 2012 - 09:18
Kenneth Haar

In the near future, we might see a mandatory register in Denmark. But there are obstacles and pitfalls

‘Responsible soy’ nominated for Belgian Greenwash award

June 27, 2012 - 17:34
Nina Holland

At the event, 'Silence of the Panda' by Wilfried Huismann was screened for the first time in Belgium. This film, currently forbidden in Germany, focuses on the pro-industry strategies followed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), accused by many of helping corpotations to greenwash their image with flawed ‘green’ labels. Parts of the movie are available on youtube.

After Rio: time to stop side-stepping government responsibility

June 27, 2012 - 16:54
Olivier Hoedeman
Now that the dust has settled after the UN's Rio+20 summit, interpretations of what happened seem to be wildly diverging. NGOs across the board and most media observers consider the summit and its final text a disaster because of the failure to agree on binding policies and targets. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in contrast, claimed that the outcome “provides a firm foundation for social, economic and environmental well-being”, highlighting the many public-private partnerships that were presented at the summit's side-events and the pledges by governments and companies to invest an estimated $500 billion in these projects. Donald Steinberg of USAID remarked that these public-private partnership workshops "were not really side events - they were the main events".

The world’s biggest trade fair

June 22, 2012 - 17:51
Olivier Hoedeman

The BMW cars are a classic example of greenwash. Electric cars are of course greener than conventional cars, but the BMW exhibition gives a misleading positive image of the company, whose main business continues to be selling petrol-guzzling luxury cars. It is only a few years ago that BMW took the lead in the massive car industry lobby campaign that seriously weakened EU proposals for stricter CO2 standards for cars1.

Despite outcry against corporate capture of Rio+20, business lobbies want a bigger formal role in UN talks

June 20, 2012 - 19:22
Olivier Hoedeman
Big business is out in full force at the Rio+20 summit. At Business Day during Rio+20, Louise Kantrow of the International Chamber of Commerce received thunderous applause when she highlighted that they were part of “the largest business delegation ever to attend a UN conference”. “Business needs to take the lead and we are taking the lead,” she added.

Pages

Rio+20

More on Rio+20

Climate and Energy

More on Climate and Energy

EU in crisis

More on The financial lobby, More on EU in crisis

The financial lobby

More on The financial lobby, More on EU in crisis

Global Europe

More on Trade, More on Agribusiness

Lobbycracy

More on Lobbycracy

Revolving Doors

More on Revolving Doors

Agribusiness

More on Trade, More on Agribusiness

EFSA

More on Lobbycracy, More on Agribusiness, More on EFSA


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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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