Press

From hospitals to care homes, the outsourcing and privatisation of healthcare, in combination with various austerity policies, have significantly degraded EU member states’ capacity to deal effectively with COVID-19, costing extra lives. A new report by lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) published today shows that neoliberal reforms that weakened public healthcare systems were in part the result of EU policy pressures [1].

The European Ombudsman has today started investigating the European Commission's secrecy around its Covid-19 vaccine contracts with pharmaceutical companies and the negotiations that shaped these contracts [1]. This inquiry was sparked by complaints filed by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) earlier this month against the Commission’s handling of two September 2020 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. The Ombudsman has already contacted the Commission and asked for a response before 11 February.

In a new report Corporate Europe Observatory uncovers United Arab Emirates' PR strategy via various lobby vehicles in Brussels. The UAE has an image as a moderate and friendly key ally to the EU, yet its foreign policy aims are pursued in bloody wars from Yemen to Libya; and human rights abuses are rampant in the autocratic, oil-rich state.

The European Hydrogen Strategy (1), as announced by the European Commission in July, is in fact a ‘Trojan horse’ for the gas industry which managed to secure massive tax payers’ support for investments. That is one of the conclusions of a new investigative report ‘The hydrogen hype: Gas industry fairy tale or climate horror story?’, published today.

The European Commission did not properly consider conflicts of interest when it granted a contract to BlackRock - a big investor in fossil fuels - to advise on the EU’s new sustainable finance agenda for banks, according to a Decision by the European Ombudsman published today (1). The complainant, the Change Finance coalition, believes the Commission should now drop the contract and start afresh.

Seven years after the adoption of new EU Staff Regulations – the rules that govern all EU institution staff – a new publication by Corporate Europe Observatory reveals that the rules to handle revolving door cases of EU officials are being poorly implemented.

Corporate Europe Observatory today reveals how an ‘unholy alliance’ of big farm and agribusiness lobby group Copa-Cogeca, together with pesticides and food industry giants, is waging a full-blown lobby battle against the EU's Farm to Fork Strategy and Biodiversity Strategy.

New research by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) reveals how pharma industry lobbying is putting profit before an effective pandemic response. The investigation uncovered dozens of documents via Freedom of Information requests, including minutes from weekly calls between Big Pharma and the European Commission held during the pandemic. 

The European Commission’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS), a roadmap for how the EU is to regulate toxic chemicals, which has been leaked today by several European media outlets, reveals the role DG Grow is playing behind the scenes in mirroring chemical industry lobbying demands. The initial draft by DG Environment which includes many positive aspects, is now being consulted upon within the Commission for a likely Autumn launch.