Press

As discussions about a European Commission proposal on the transparency of EU food safety data are underway in both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, organisers of the #StopGlyphosate European Citizens' Initiative today warned that to live up to its promising objectives, the proposal must be amended.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed in a ruling the legal status of food and feed crops derived from certain new genetic modification techniques. It gave clear confirmation that organisms from these new gene editing techniques are covered by existing EU GMO regulation.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed in a ruling the legal status of food and feed crops derived from certain new genetic modification techniques. It gave clear confirmation that organisms from these new gene editing techniques are covered by existing EU GMO regulation.

From sunscreen to paint, sweets and toothpaste, titanium dioxide is a chemical whitener found in many everyday products. An ongoing EU process to classify the chemical as a “suspected carcinogen” when inhaled could lead to product warning labels. But hefty lobbying by the chemicals industry seems to be weakening the resolve of the member states taking the final decision.

The Big Four accountancy firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) facilitate and profit from corporate tax avoidance, but are still regarded by the European Commission as objective and legitimate advisers on policy responses to tax avoidance, a new report by Corporate Europe Observatory shows.

In her final decision on European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi’s membership of the Group of Thirty (G30), the European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has voiced disappointment about the bank’s reluctance to follow her recommendation to suspend Draghi’s G30 membership and to bar future presidents from joining the group.

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.

Ex-EU Finance Commissioner Jonathan Hill’s new role as Brexit advisor at major Swiss investment bank UBS is the latest illustration of the EU Commission’s serious revolving door problem.

The EU lobbying of online tourism platform AirBnB is at the centre of a new Corporate Europe Observatory report. “UnFairbnb” looks at the way in which their Brussels lobbying affects cities’ ability to regulate the AirBnB model for holiday rentals, and highlights how this undermines cities' affordable housing measures across Europe.