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On 22 March, the below letter signed by various organisations was sent to Commissioner Michel Barnier, urging him to take urgent action against financial speculation on commodity prices, in particularly food. Michel Barnier European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services European Commission B - 1049 Brussels Belgium 22 March 2010 Dear Commissioner Barnier,

EPACA, the association of lobbying consultancies, today launched a new round in its campaign to undermine the reputation of lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), in what looks like a desperate attempt to fight tighter transparency and ethics rules for EU lobbyists.

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has written to Secretary-General Catherine Day arguing that the Commission has failed to take adequate measures against potential conflicts of interest arising from Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner’s move to reinsurance giant Munich Re last month. The Commission followed the advice of an Ad Hoc Ethical Committee which concluded there was no problem, arguing that the ”envisaged occupation with Munich Re was a non-executive position”. CEO argues that the Ad Hoc Panel’s advice was inadequate and should not have been endorsed by the Commission.

Sometimes no news is not good news – and this is certainly the case as far as Europe 2020 – the European Union’s proposal for a new overarching strategy is concerned.

Sixty per cent of EU lobbying consultancies boycott lobby transparency register Almost two years after the European Commission launched a voluntary lobby transparency register, sixty per cent of EU lobbying consultancies are still not registered, a survey published today by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) reveals. The coalition has called on EU officials, including the responsible Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, and MEPs to refuse to meet with groups which have not signed the register.