To secure a rapid and sufficient supply of vaccines and medicines, the global south has asked for a waiver of intellectual property rights. But despite the gravity of the situation, that is rejected outright by the EU. That should not come as a surprise. A briefing from CEO outlines the EU's traditional role as a staunch defender of big pharma monopolies, and how the push for provisions on 'data exclusivity' in trade agreements with third countries have seeked to undermine even existing flexibility under international rules.

Chemical giant's lobbyists woo MEPs via online wine tasting, just as the battle over pesticides reduction proposed by the European Green Deal heats up. But does this event comply with existing rules on lobbying gifts and events targeting MEPs?

A detailed summary of the findings and conclusions of two extensive reports on research public-private partnerships in the EU: the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and the Bio-Based Industries (BBI) Joint Undertakings.

Despite strong calls from MEPs and the public, ExxonMobil and its lobby groups mobilise enough behind-the-scenes pressure to stop the European Parliament taking away its lobby badges

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we discuss France, French politics, the role that French President Emmanuel Macron wants to play in the EU and what vision he has for the future of Europe. Disclaimer: the French Presidency of the EU Council which started on 1 January promises a very corporate-driven future of Europe!

Despite the EU's talk about regulating the digital sphere, we uncover how Big Tech has successfully waged a major lobbying campaign to prevent a ban on their extremely profitable model of intrusive surveillance advertising. However MEPs still have a chance to turn some of this around.

A Presidency prepared in close collaboration with the French corporate sector which is setting a policy agenda that strongly reflects business demands.That is the verdict of Corporate Europe Observatory and Observatoire des multinationales in their new report “Under the influence: the distorted priorities of the French EU Council Presidency”, published today, in the run up to the start of the French Presidency on 1 January.

In January 2022, France will take on the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU. Yet this Presidency has been prepared in close collaboration with the French corporate sector, and is setting a policy agenda that strongly reflects business demands. It looks set to be a captured presidency.

Emmanuel Macron has announced France's priorities for its rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2022. But all signals indicate that the EU is on the road for more corporate capture of policy-making instead of less.

In this new episode we’ll talk to two experts - Dimitri Eynikel, an expert of Doctors without Borders and CEO-researcher Olivier Hoedeman- on how the EU is dealing with the new phase of the pandemic, with a special focus on the still unresolved unequal access of large parts of the world to Covid-19 vaccines, new medicines and therapeutics. Experts have long warned that if the global population does not have access to vaccines, new variants of the virus will emerge and hit us back.