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

Recent evidence supports widely held suspicions that much larger sums of money are spent by corporations on lobbying than what they declare in their entries to the EU Joint Transparency Register. A report by law firm Sidley Austin, published by Bayer, revealed details of a lobbying contract between lobby firm FleishmanHillard and Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, worth €14.5 million. This is multiple times the lobby spending declared by both companies in the register.

Fertilizer company Yara has been dubbed the Exxon of agriculture due to its thirst for fossil gas. This article looks at the many channels of influence used by Yara and its lobby network, specifically in the European Union (EU).

Europe’s four biggest gas transport companies own half the EU’s LNG terminals and enough pipeline to stretch around the world two and a half times. A new briefing by the European Network of Corporate Observatories reveals that their lobby influence has secured EU support for yet more lucrative infrastructure projects to expand an already under-used gas network.

Why is the EU still building new and unnecessary gas pipelines and LNG terminals? Who’s pushing them and who’s profiting from them?

Platforms like Uber and Airbnb are waging a multifaceted lobbying campaign in Brussels to undermine social and workers' rights - and the Commission in particular, is working to help the platforms evade rules meant, for example, to ensure decent working conditions and access to housing. This report shows how the platforms operate.

As gig economy companies are spending more than ever on lobbying the EU, new study “Uber Influential” shows how the likes of Uber and AirBnB are fighting the regulation of their sector in Europe.

As US President Trump this week reaffirmed a new EU-US trade deal as the only way to avert new punitive tariffs on EU manufactured import goods, the ongoing trade negotiations between the trading blocs are back in the headlines. A new report today warns of the serious risks of such a trade agreement for public health, consumer rights and the environment.

The ongoing trade talks between the EU and the US give reason to many of the same concerns as the negotiations on TTIP. The US is looking to weaken EU standards on eg. chemicals, pesticides, GMOs and food. The European priorities include ideas that could undermine US protection levels on medical devices, toys and equipment used at workplaces. 'Conformity assessments' is a much more risky area than it sounds, according to our report 'Trading away protection'.

One year after a landmark ECJ judgment that the EU’s GMO rules should apply to new genetic engineering techniques, industry groups and the US Government are keeping up pressure on the European Union to deregulate, with implications for food and bio-safety, as well as consumer choice.