Lobbying the EU

How vulnerable are the EU institutions to undue corporate influence, and what gaps exist in EU lobbying and ethics rules?

BusinessEurope is no. 1

Lobby groups & tactics

BusinessEurope: the death star of corporate lobbying

The association of European employers, BusinessEurope, is the most active and probably the most powerful lobby group in the EU institutions. Determined to see the EU adopt policies that defend profits over people and planet, they have won privileged access to decision-makers like no other and even shape the direction of the EU as a whole. It is high time to roll back their power and privileged access.

Infographic with to piles of coins lablled 97 million euros in 2021 and 113 million euros in 2023. Titled "Digital industry lobby spending in Brussels"

Lobbying power of Amazon, Google and Co. continues to grow

An updated study shows that Big Tech spends 113 million euros on lobbying in Brussels - a 16.5 per cent increase since 2021.

Aerial view of a queue of trucks, photo from Canva

The EU's Single Market's obstacles to a just climate transition

As the EU Single Market turns 30, we can't allow further obstacles to its just future.

Photo of Pfizer's covid vaccine, from Canva

EU vaccine transparency: a shot in the dark

In case of the EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the tens of billions of euros the EU spends on purchasing vaccines from powerful pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, the European Parliament has renounced its' key task of budgetary control.

Data protection

Conflicts of interest

NGOs condemn MEP’s side activities in complaint on conflict-of-interest risk

NGOs have today written to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest regarding Member of the European Parliament Axel Voss.

How the Single Market has been used to obstruct progressive legislation

Joana Louçã talks to economist and trade unionist Frank Ey, Olivier Hoedeman and Moritz Neujeffski, co-authors of CEO's latest report on the Single Market.

photo if 6 dice on a glass table

EU Single Market at 30: the board game!

Is there a particularly threatening social or environmental policy or regulation that may harm your profits? Play our board game "EU Single Market at 30" to find out how to deal with it!

Hurdles with "Single Market Enforcement" stand on a green and blue wave background with the title "30 Years of EU Single Market"

30 Years of EU Single Market

Our new report exposes how corporations have used the EU Single Market to obstruct progressive legislation like social housing measures, progressive healthcare reforms, protection from harmful substances as well bans on short-distance flights.

Qatargate

EU institutions

Beyond Qatargate: the EU needs a compulsory register that targets all covert lobbying

Instead of a misguided 'foreign agents' law that will negatively target NGOs, the EU needs to respond to the Qatargate scandal with a robust compulsory transparency register that targets all covert lobbying, with legally binding sanctions and enforcement.

Fish eat fish

How the Commission outsourced its merger policy to Google’s best friend

The European Commission has hired consultants who work for some of the biggest monopolies in the world to evaluate its merger enforcement policies. The European Commission has barely explored if there is a conflict of interest in such an appointment.

Brumadinho dam collapse

Conflicts of interest

NGOs submit complaint about risk of MEP's conflicts of interest

NGOs including Corporate Europe Observatory have today raised serious concerns about the risk of conflicts of interest by an MEP working on the Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence file.

Young women in a feminist protest. Photo by Ceci Figueroa via Pexels.

Cost of living crisis affects women the most, but it’s men who are causing it

Women are suffering in poverty, being forced to make impossible choices to ensure people who are dependent on them can survive, while the corporations responsible for this crisis are overwhelmingly run by men.

Help us stay independent

We are a small team that works fully independently of funding from EU
institutions and corporations.
Every single donation helps us fight the hold of Big Business over the EU.

Donate