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On the 2nd of March 2012, 25 EU heads of state or government signed a new treaty 1, and if all goes as planned, it will enter into force early next year.

In her Survival guide to EU lobbying Caroline De Cock, an experienced EU lobbyist, calls senior ex-officials who go through the revolving door into commercial lobbying “door-openers” and she writes “They can be of great value, by opening the door to people and offices that would otherwise remain unattainable to your lobbying efforts”.

The European Parliament is facing heavy lobbying in the run-up to a crucial vote on the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Industry lobby groups are stepping up the pressure to make MEPs vote in favour of this global treaty which has come under heavy criticism from civil society.

At the doorstep of Ahold’s sustainability office in Amsterdam, speakers from various organisations like FIAN (Netherlands) and Wervel (Belgium) highlighted the major flaws of the certification approach. In an indoors conversation beforehand, Byrnes had to admit that the only ‘advantage’ of participating in the Roundtable is ‘to be talking’ with the soy producers.

To the Executive Board of the European Central Bank Concerning the President’s membership of the Group of Thirty. This letter is to complain about the about the European Central Bank’s response to my letter (on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory) about ECB President Draghi’s membership of the Group of Thirty which failed to adequately address the concerns I raised.

As the European Food Safety Authority celebrates its 10th anniversary, a new report from Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and Earth Open Source questions the independence of its advice. Conflicts on the menu: a decade of industry influence at the European Food Safety Authority highlights the agency’s reliance on industry data and industry-linked experts and calls for a complete overhaul of EFSA’s operations.

A new European Commission measure has opened the door to the granting of millions of euros worth of subsidies to help the continent’s largest corporate polluters with their electricity bills. This report shows how:

You've probably never heard of the 'Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities' but this 150-page tome and its associated annexes constitute 'The Bible' of terms of conditions for the 50,000 plus staff who work across the EU institutions and agencies.

Within days a new legal creature will most likely have taken its final shape: an EU treaty that is not really an EU treaty. European Union rules stipulate that new treaties have to be approved by all member states, so with the UK vetoing the proposals, member state governments chose to be creative.