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A peculiar pro-biotech event took place in Brussels. A 'farmers network' gave Brussels the chance to sample some genetically modified (GM) cuisine at an event in the upmarket Renaissance Hotel on 28 June, just across the road from the European Parliament. Lucky Brussels?

Twenty two Members of the European Parliament from across the political spectrum launched a remarkable warning against the financial industry’s intensive lobbying efforts last week, warning that it “poses a danger to democracy”.

Consumer organisations reacted with great disappointment to MEPs' rejection of the traffic light labelling scheme in the 17 June vote. CIAA, the food and drinks industry lobby, seemed pleased with the vote, but criticised CEO's report on food labelling and even denied being a lobbying organisation in a conversation with CEO.

CIAA's €1-billion campaign to promote the GDA labelling system was clearly a key element in its political strategy to combat other, stricter labelling options which it feared would damage sales of unhealthy food, such as the 'traffic light' system.

A few days from now it will be two years since the European Commission launched its voluntary lobby register. The critique of the shortcomings of the register will be well known to readers of this blog. Only a minority of Brussels-based lobbies are registered and the data of those who have joined are often unreliable (some over-estimate their lobby spending, most under-report).

How investment fund lobbyists used SMEs as a front to lobby MEPs In the battle over the regulation of hedge funds and private equity funds currently taking place in Brussels, hundreds of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) surprisingly spoke out in April in support of the financial lobby’s attempt to stave off regulation. But behind the scenes, a lobby organisation, the European Venture Capital Association – representing large and controversial investment funds was pulling the strings.

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has collected more than twenty e-mails from industry lobbyists with “voting recommendations” for MEPs ahead of the ENVI committee vote, in March 2010, on the ‘Sommer report’ about the new EU regulation on food labelling.