Other battles

Online privacy, clean air, affordable housing, whistleblower protection and much more: which other corporate lobby fights are putting EU public interest on the line?

Covert lobbying

Promoting the indefensible: Saudi Arabia’s Brussels lobby shop

28.01.2019

There can be few more controversial clients for a lobbying consultancy than the regime of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. No surprises, then, that a Brussels-based lobbying firm has been less than forthcoming about its role. Corporate Europe Observatory lifts the lid on the company lobbying on behalf of this repressive regime.

Single market

Bolkestein returns: EU Commission power grab for services

29.11.2018

The EU institutions are currently negotiating new single market rules that could have a severe and distinctly negative impact on decision-making in parliaments, regional assemblies and city councils across Europe. Read Corporate Europe Observatory's Questions & Answers on the proposal to give the Commission new powers to annul local decisions.

Digital

Copyright Directive: how competing big business lobbies drowned out critical voices

10.12.2018

Lobbying around the EU Copyright Directive has been intense: big-budget tech platforms led by Google as well as tech industry trade associations on one side, historically important collecting societies, the creative industries and publishers on the other. The interests and opinions of citizens have become sidelined in the resulting turmoil.

Lobby groups & tactics

The ‘innovation principle’ trap

05.12.2018

A seemingly innocent concept, the “innovation principle” has been invented by some of the dirtiest industries in Europe. They have carefully and strategically inserted it into the EU system, where it could have a significant impact on the shaping of new EU legislation or policies, and those under revision.

Environment

Plastic pressure

26.11.2018

Industry lobbies continue their push to avoid robust obligations in the EU's proposal for dealing with single-use plastics.

Single market

The EU’s obstacle course for municipalism

28.10.2018

Progressive municipalist city governments from Barcelona, to Naples, to Grenoble have introduced radical democratic programmes to tranmsform the EU from the bottom up. Despite facing obstacles from neoliberal policies from the EU and member states, these cities are finding ways to bypass many of these hurdles.

Revolving doors

Accounting for influence

10.07.2018

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

Single market

Commission protects AirBnB lobby paper as ‘commercial secret’

12.06.2018

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.

Digital

In battle for ePrivacy, Council of EU set to side with advertisers, telecoms and Big Data

04.06.2018

Since the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has come into force, ePrivacy is now the new online data security frontier in the European Union. Corporate Europe Observatory’s new research shows how proposed rules are being watered down by EU member state governments in the Council of the European Union, following a deluge of industry lobbying.

Digital

Shutting down ePrivacy: lobby bandwagon targets Council

04.06.2018

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.

Environment

Plastic promises

22.05.2018

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. With the Commission likely to publish its proposal to tackle single-use plastic products any day, will it adopt an ambitious approach towards binding regulations on industry?

Digital

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

21.05.2018

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.

Other battles

Promoting the indefensible: Saudi Arabia’s Brussels lobby shop

Bolkestein returns: EU Commission power grab for services

Copyright Directive: how competing big business lobbies drowned out critical voices

The ‘innovation principle’ trap

Plastic pressure

The EU’s obstacle course for municipalism

Accounting for influence

Commission protects AirBnB lobby paper as ‘commercial secret’

In battle for ePrivacy, Council of EU set to side with advertisers, telecoms and Big Data

Shutting down ePrivacy: lobby bandwagon targets Council

Plastic promises

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

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