The glyphosate battle is back. A new scientific analysis finds that most of industry’s studies provided to EU authorities to prove glyphosate’s safety, did not meet basic international scientific standards as set by the OECD. This comes at a moment when the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is about to start its re-assessment of glyphosate, a key ingredient of the infamous weed killer Roundup.

Recently more than 1,500 corporations, including big polluters, have made “net zero” commitments. Are their pledges backed by plans for real action or are they a strategy for evading responsibility and continue business as usual? Find out more in this report by Corporate Accountability International, Global Forest Coalition and Friends of the Earth International, in collaboration with CEO and other groups.

In this new episode we put spotlights on the European Union as an economical superpower and how the EU regulates - or not - corporate power. The European way of doing (geo)politics is often described as ‘soft power’. But the impact of European businesses in other parts of the world – as well as in the EU itself - is often not so soft and often leads to human rights violations and destruction of ecosystems.

Big business is lobbying for a new EU court that could make member states pay huge sums of public money in compensation to corporations, when they regulate to protect workers, consumers and the environment. The hidden lobby battle is uncovered in a new report published today by lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO).

In the run up to a European Commission proposal to protect cross-border investments in the EU, large banks, law firms and business lobby groups are pushing for vast new legal privileges for corporations. If they get their way, a special EU court exclusively for corporations could make European governments pay huge sums of money as compensation for regulations in the public interest.

Corporate lobbyists are fighting an announced EU law that seeks to hold companies accountable for human rights abuses and environmental destruction. This is evident from a new report by Brussels-based lobby-watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) and Friends of the Earth Europe based on dozens of documents obtained through freedom of information requests.

Corporate lobbyists are fighting a proposed EU law that seeks to hold companies accountable for human rights abuses and environmental destruction. While some employ outright hostility and are clear that they don’t want the law in the first place, more insidious are those companies that while appearing cooperative, seek to fatally weaken the rules. We reveal the tactics used to undermine this law that seeks to stop corporate impunity and would require companies to exercise ‘due diligence’ along their global supply chains.

Lobby Watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) today publishes evidence that the EU Council of Ministers decided its position on patents on covid-19 vaccines (as well as therapeutics and diagnostics) in secret on 20 May, to prepare for ongoing global negotiations on the crucial matter. Despite huge public interest and debate on this issue, MEPs and national parliamentarians were kept in the dark about this discussion.

On 20 May the EU Council of Ministers discussed their collective position over a proposal to waive Big Pharma’s patent monopolies on COVID vaccines and treatment. But they are keeping these crucial discussions hidden behind closed doors. It’s only thanks to leaked documents that we have an insight into the official Council position – the EU member states’ common position – on one of the major global political battles of our time.

Big Pharma is currently waging a fierce lobbying battle to protect its monopoly patent rights for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. While Corporate Europe Observatory broadly outlines the sector's lobby spending, this is likely to be an underestimate of Big Pharma's true firepower; and up-to-date lobbying information and details are hard to come by. Weak EU lobby transparency rules are hampering the public scrutiny that is more needed than ever now during the pandemic.