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Leading French researcher on the impacts of GMOs Gilles-Eric Séralini has won the court case against Marc Fellous of the Association Française des Biotechnologies Végétales (AFBV) for libel. Fellous was convicted to the symbolic fine of 1 euro for damages. Many people showed up on 17 January in front of the court in Paris. Corinne Lepage, MEP, said “When a whistleblower moves from the defensive to the offensive, this is now bearing its fruits.”

2011 may mark a watershed in the history of the European Union. Using the pretext of the “euro crisis”, the European Commission and the Council have put forward proposals to give the EU new powers to deal with core welfare issues, including social benefits and wages, under a new technocratic procedure – hard (if not impossible) to track, let alone influence by those who stand to lose out. The proposals embody a corporate social and economic agenda which, if enacted, will constitute a “silent revolution” imposed from above, with no real democratic debate or popular participation.

Sweden is known as a global leader in transparency, but among centre-right Swedish MEPs there’s very little enthusiasm for being open about their contacts with lobbyists, as a survey published on europaportalen.se found.

2010 saw high-profile controversy around the large number of ex-Commissioners who went through the revolving door in to lobbying jobs in industry. The year is now drawing to an end and we're still waiting for the promised new Code of Conduct for Commissioners.

The European Commission continues its secrecy regarding the accreditation of voluntary schemes under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). At least eleven voluntary agrofuel accreditation schemes are currently seeking approval - but the EU Commission has refused to release details of which schemes and companies are involved. In October, CEO, ClientEarth, Friends of the Earth and FERN have sent the Commission an access to document request demanding full and ongoing disclosure of both the names and the content of these schemes.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been promoted by industry as the solution to tackling climate change. Why stop burning fossil fuels when instead you can capture the carbon dioxide and store it in a hole in the ground? Defying objections on the grounds of cost, feasibility,the environment and in the face of public opposition , heavy industry has pushed for EU support for CCS. Shell, BP and others representing the industry persuaded UK Liberal MEP Chris Davies to work on their behalf - effectively securing billions of euros in EU subsidies to support the new technology.

On 23 rd November there was an action to support Gilles-Eric Séralini’s court case, against Marc Fellous of the Association Française des Biotechnologies Végétales (AFBV) for libel. The case is being heard in the ‘Tribunal de Grande Instance’, in the historic Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité, Paris. Séralini is a leading researcher into the risks of GMOs.

They are a tiny minority, a network of just a few dozen individuals around the world. Their numbers contrast starkly with the overwhelming majority of scientists who agree on the reality of man-made climate change, and on the urgent need for action. But the voices of climate deniers, are amplified in Europe by a handful of extremist free marketeers and right-wing think tanks, which try to block action to tackle climate change.