Accounting for influence

We pay our taxes, so why don’t corporations? The Big Four global accountancy firms are embedded in EU policy-making on tax avoidance. This report concludes that it is time to kick this industry out of EU anti-tax avoidance policy.

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One Treaty to rule them all

A new report from CEO and TNI exposes how the little-known but expanding Energy Charter Treaty gives corporations the power to halt the energy transition. And how it is being expanded, threatening to bind yet more countries to corporate-friendly energy policies.

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EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement:

An exclusive trade between EU negotiators and big business

The EU and Japan recently signed the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. But as this deal was hashed out, not all interest groups had an equal say. Official data from the European Commission show that big business had many more meetings with EU trade negotiators than small businesses, trade unions and other civil society actors did.

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Beyond the pale

Industry lobbyists are spending millions of euros to influence an upcoming EU decision on labelling titanium dioxide – found in everyday products like sunscreen – a “suspected carcinogen”. The lobbying is led by an unregistered trade association and a public relations consultancy; nonetheless, they appear to have the ear of member states and the European Commission.

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Plastic promises

The plastics industry mounted a significant lobby campaign to influence the European Commission’s recent Plastics Strategy. Industry is now seeking to unpick or undermine key elements of the strategy through lacklustre or non-existing voluntary commitments, or outright opposition. Will the Commission’s proposal to tackle single-use plastic products be a first step towards binding regulations on industry?

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Biosafety in Danger

Documents released to Corporate Europe Observatory following a Freedom of Information request reveal how pro-biotech lobby platform Public Research Regulation Initiative (PRRI) unites industry, researchers, and regulators in ‘like-minded’ groups to influence crucial international biosafety talks under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

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With Big Tech comes Big Lobbying. Help us keep an eye on it

Google, Facebook and other Big Tech & Big Data companies are now among the biggest lobbyists in Brussels. Help us keep an eye on them and protect your digital rights and data privacy.

DONATE NOW: https://corporateeurope.org/donate

 


Commission protects AirBnB lobby paper as ‘commercial secret’

The European Commission rebranded AirBnB lobbying documents as ‘commercial secrets’ and therefore denied public access. After eight months of wrangling over their release, Corporate Europe Observatory can report the documents show that AirBnB and similar rental platforms are attacking measures used by cities to protect affordable housing.

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Shutting down ePrivacy: lobby bandwagon targets Council

Industry lobbyists who want to continue monetising users’ online data are battling against new ePrivacy regulations, targeting EU member states in the Council. And some member state governments are only too happy to help.

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Post-scandal Facebook: will the EU stop treating the tech giant as a trusted partner?

Following the Cambridge Analytica affair and the massive leak of 87 million people’s data, revealed earlier this year, Facebook is facing unprecedented scrutiny of its business model. Regulators must stop treating the social media giant as a trusted partner and better protecting EU citizens’ digital rights.

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