Articles

Since 2010, ExxonMobil has invested over €35 million in lobbying the European Union to delay and weaken essential climate action. With a climate catastrophe looming, is it time EU decision-makers closed the door on the corporation's dirty lobbying?

In an open letter to European Commissioner Bieńkowska we've expressed the grave concerns of several civil society groups and political parties involved in running major European cities about flaws in the European Commission’s preparation of the Services Notification Procedure Directive, which put local democracy at risk.

Two years after the suspension of TTIP, the EU is preparing mandates for new trade talks with the US. Once again corporate lobby groups are working to set the agenda, while the European Commission covers over its links with big business.

Today, more than 60 international, European and national civil society groups have called on European decision makers to uphold the Paris Agreement and not mandate new trade negotiations with the USA.

New information shows the chilling scope of proposed EU rules on services (the ‘Bolkestein Directive’) that would give the Commission advance veto power over decisions taken by parliaments and city councils on a vast range of services, including everything from childcare, to energy, to water, and even sex work.

New documents increase concerns over the controversial reform to the Services Notification Procedure (“Bolkestein Directive”), which could radically expand EU Commission powers over national and municipal services regulation: 55 files obtained via access to documents requests show the heavy influence of big business lobbies over the proposal.

Member states play a hugely important role in EU decision-making, but too often they act as middlemen for corporate interests. This report combines case studies, original research, and analysis to illustrate the depth of the problem – and what you can do about it.

There can be few more controversial clients for a lobbying consultancy than the regime of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. No surprises, then, that a Brussels-based lobbying firm has been less than forthcoming about its role. Corporate Europe Observatory lifts the lid on the company lobbying on behalf of this repressive regime.

"Wait a minute. I don’t really get what ISDS is. ...." Here is our straightforward "What is What" on Investor-State Dispute Settlement - and why it's so dangerous. Under ISDS corporations and the rich have sued governments for billions of euros – for anything from introducing health warnings on cigarettes to banning dirty oil drilling. Citizens, campaigners and social movements are uniting in 2019 to put an end to this parallel justice system for big business.