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Better control of EU revolving door needed

July 25, 2012 - 14:45
Vicky Cann
The revolving door has been in the headlines again in recent weeks with the speedy departure of a top official from the EU's medicines agency to a prominent law firm. Such moves, known as going through the revolving door, can allow the private sector to 'capture' or unduly influence the work of the public sector and it is vital that all public authorities including the EU agencies and the European Commission take this threat seriously. This example and other recent revolving door cases again raise questions as to how well the EU institutions implement the current rules, and whether the Commission will seize the initiative to tighten up on the loopholes which undermine them.

When business and politics intertwine

July 23, 2012 - 16:30
Vicky Cann
It seems as if barely a week goes past these days without a high-level summit taking place in Brussels to discuss issues relating to the euro-zone crisis. Much has been said about the roots of the crisis but no one can deny that in the background is the lack of trust that people have in their national politicians and European institutions.

EU Research funds: a €20 billion gift to industry!

July 13, 2012 - 15:46
Martin Pigeon


Research funding is a hot topic these days between the European Parliament and member states, who are negotiating amendments to the draft text published in November 2011 by the European Commission. As things stand, the new round of research funding for 2014-2020 would add up to a whopping €86 billion euros, making it the largest EU budget after farm subidies and structural funds for regional development.

DG Enterprise must kick corporate lobbyists out of expert groups

July 12, 2012 - 17:55
Yiorgos Vassalos
ALTER-EU presented its new report on the dominance of corporate lobbyists in DG Enterprise's expert groups at a packed event in the Residence Palace, Brussels, organised in partnership with the Austrian Trade Union Federation and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour. Dennis de Jong MEP and Lluís Prats representing DG Enterprise, both speaking on the panel, said the Commission had sent a paper to the MEPs just a few hours earlier recognising 'industry over-representation' in 17 expert groups. We say action is still needed.

DG Enterprise needs to kick corporate lobbyists out of its expert groups

July 12, 2012 - 17:05
Yiorgos Vassalos

Severin: Time for action

July 11, 2012 - 10:44
Anonymous
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.

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?

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Rio+20

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EU in crisis

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The financial lobby

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Trade

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Lobbycracy

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Revolving Doors

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Agribusiness

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EFSA

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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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