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In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we start with a Bang. This podcast deals with the question how the big digital corporations and platforms like Facebook, Google, Amazon and others try to influence European policy making to keep their business models intact.

As Big Tech’s market power has grown, so has its political clout. Just as the EU tries to rein in the most problematic aspects of Big Tech – from disinformation, targeted advertising to excessive market power – the digital giants are lobbying hard to shape new regulations.

In this special Summer episode we bring you the true story of how the EU has been dealing with the covid-19 pandemic so far and why it seems to have a deep love affair with Big Pharma.

A secretive Council working party allows corporate lobbyists to influence policy positions. New research by Corporate Europe Observatory into this little scrutinised channel shows how business priorities – such as demands for deregulation – are given a privileged hearing by officials whilst public interest voices are shut out.

The European Commission said it wants to avoid giving billions in bailouts to the fossil fuel industry like it did in 2008 - but it’s doing just that: In Italy, France, Portugal and the Spanish State, €8.3 billion of EU recovery funds will be spent on hydrogen and renewable gases, thanks to fierce industry lobbying at national and EU level.

The glyphosate battle is back. A new scientific analysis finds that most of industry’s studies provided to EU authorities to prove glyphosate’s safety, did not meet basic international scientific standards as set by the OECD. This comes at a moment when the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is about to start its re-assessment of glyphosate, a key ingredient of the infamous weed killer Roundup.

Recently more than 1,500 corporations, including big polluters, have made “net zero” commitments. Are their pledges backed by plans for real action or are they a strategy for evading responsibility and continue business as usual? Find out more in this report by Corporate Accountability International, Global Forest Coalition and Friends of the Earth International, in collaboration with CEO and other groups.

UK gas company Ascent Resources is threatening to sue Slovenia for €120 million under the Energy Charter Treaty. Why? Just because the Slovenian government demanded an environmental impact assessment for a controversial fracking project.

In the run up to a European Commission proposal to protect cross-border investments in the EU, large banks, law firms and business lobby groups are pushing for vast new legal privileges for corporations. If they get their way, a special EU court exclusively for corporations could make European governments pay huge sums of money as compensation for regulations in the public interest.