Articles

The European Union's multi-billion research funding programme is supposed to help society meet the grand challenges it faces. But there is concern that the participation of large corporations is skewing research agendas towards narrow interest, and leading to the substitution of public for private funding. Will the EU's new Research Program, Horizon 2020, avoid these pitfalls?

Swedish environment minister Lena Ek last week came under fire for her role in the European Energy Forum (EEF), a cross-party group of MEPs which is funded by large corporations such as Shell, Nord Stream and Vattenfall. Ek, who acted as vice-chairman of the EEF during her time as an MEP, had failed to formally withdraw from her EEF role when she became environment minister.

CEO recently met with officials at DG Markt to discuss their use of expert advisors. Read our analysis of what DG Markt has done to change the balance of expert groups – and find out more about the problems that still remain.

Dear Mr. Draghi. I am writing to you on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory in connection with your new role, following the change of presidents at the European Central Bank. Our attention was drawn to both your and Jean-Claude Trichet’s membership of ’the Group of Thirty’. We find this membership deeply concerning and believe it may be in breach of the Treaty.

Brussels bubble watchers might remember the names of Verheugen, McCreevy, Ferrero-Waldner, Kuneva – all former EU commissioners who left public service and went through the revolving door into lobby jobs or other jobs wh

The “revolving door” – which appears to link the EU institutions directly to the private sector, allowing employees to move almost effortlessly between the two – is at the heart of the close relationship between the EU institutions and Brussels’ lobby industry.

The EU's emissions trading system has fundamental flaws and is failing to deliver the carbon cuts needed, campaigners told a debate in Brussels (Tuesday) ahead of the start of UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa.And an MEP warned the debate that industry lobbying was damaging the EU's position on climate change, accusing BusinessEurope of failing to represent the views of its members who are calling for tougher targets.

Across the world, corporate lawyers have taken full advantage of an unjust investment regime to make multinationals sue sovereign governments for millions of Euros. At great personal financial gain, they have actively pursued cases, exploited loopholes and created an explosion in the number and costs of dispute settlement cases - with devastating social, environmental and budgetary impacts for sovereign states and ordinary people. A new briefing paper by CEO and TNI shines a light on their vested interests.

If a week is a long time in politics, then it appears that seven months is a veritable aeon. That's how long it has been since the Sunday Times exposed the cash-for-influence scandal which engulfed three MEPs and caused some soul-searching in the EU's only elected institution. But the shock and embarrassment that this caused seems to have faded into the distant past, at least for some Members.