Articles

This month the EU Ombudsman is expected to reach a conclusion on Corporate Europe Observatory’s complaint about the European Central Bank and its President Mario Draghi. It centers on his continuing membership of the Group of Thirty (G30), which violates the Bank's own ethics rules.

Corporate Europe Observatory, alongside Lobby Control and Corporate Accountability International, have today submitted a formal complaint to European Commission President Barroso over the controversial reappointment of Michel Petite to the Commission’s ad hoc ethical committee.

Some investment lawyers have rejected the allegations of "Profiting from Injustice", a report which looks at the role of law firms, arbitrators and third-party funders in the recent boom in lawsuits of foreign investors against states. This blog responds to their defence of the international investment regime, argueing that it is neither fair nor independent, but biased towards the interests of investors.

Since the European Council met in June 2012, the heads of the main European institutions have put forward several proposals for a so-called “Genuine Economic and Monetary Union”, better known as fiscal union (for a detailed examination of the proposals see). The most detailed proposal was the Blueprint published by the European Commission at the end of November. They argue for a step-by-step approach to complete the fiscal Union.

Almost two months after Commissioner John Dalli resigned, it is still not clear what exactly happened in this tobacco lobby scandal. Commission officials have told Brussels journalists that Dalli had to resign because he held undisclosed meetings with tobacco lobbyists. But if Health Commissioner John Dalli had to resign because of undisclosed meetings with tobacco lobbyists, shouldn’t the same logic apply to high-level Commission officials in Barroso’s cabinet, at the Secretariat-General and other DGs?

In October 2012, the EU celebrated 20 years of the Single Market created by the Maastricht Treaty. At the same time, the Eurozone economy contracted for the first time since 2009 signalling that the crisis in Europe has still not been overcome. The most significant contraction has been in peripheral Eurozone countries with the unambiguous champion, Greece, already in its fifth year of recession. This is one of the longest recessions in a developed country in history. So, does Greece have reason to celebrate the Single Market’s 20th anniversary? Or is the current crisis connected to Greece’s

A report by freelance Stéphane Horel (covered today by Le Monde) reveals that more than half the members of the EFSA working group on endocrine disruptors (a class of toxic chemicals that interfere with the hormone system) have conflicts of interest, many of them with industry think-tank, ILSI.

The EU's General Court has announced a date for the hearing for Corporate Europe Observatory's legal action, suing the EU Commission for withholding information related to the EU’s free trade talks with India. The Commission is accused of discriminating in favour of corporate lobby groups and of violating the EU’s transparency rules. The case will be heard in Luxembourg on 11 January 2012.

While leaving most issues unclear, the Commission’s response to Parliamentary questions about Dalligate has revealed some disturbing new facts. Behind closed doors meetings with tobacco lobbyists are facilitated by the revolving door – when former public officials become lobbyists, often in the same policy areas.