Press

As the European Union faces an ever-deepening crisis over its economic policies, more than 250 economists, activists and trade unionists will gather in Brussels on the 5th-6th May 2012 to call for an alternative way forward.

For the first time, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has admitted that it did not take the necessary action to stop revolving doors. EFSA has stated that “regrettably” the authority did not follow up the relevant information. Further, the authority acknowledges that it has strengthened internal rules in response. 

The financial industry has mounted a full scale scaremongering lobby to block the the European Commission's proposal for a financial transaction tax (FTT) at the EU level, according to a new report from Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) published today, ahead of the EU finance ministers meeting in Copenhagen.

28 March 2012 - New research reveals that the pharmaceutical industry lobby is spending more than €40 million annually to influence decision making in the European Union (EU) – of which nearly half is spent by drug manufacturers on in-house lobbyists.

According to these findings, civil society organisations active on EU medicines issues, on the other hand, spend a combined €3.4 million per year. With the immense disparity between the affluence of public interest groups and the industrial lobby, it becomes even more difficult to level the policy playing field.

Munich/ Brussels, 21.3.2012 Testbiotech, supported by Corporate Observatory Europe (CEO), is today filing a new complaint with the EU Ombudsman questioning the independence of the chair of the panel of experts tasked with assessing the risk of new genetically engineered plants entering the European Union [1].

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), the Municipal Services Project (MSP) and the Transnational Institute (TNI) are launching the groundbreaking study Remunicipalisation: Putting Water Back in Public Hands on Thursday, March 15 in Marseille, France.

The European Commission has recommended that one of Europe's chief food lobbyists – who is also a former Monsanto employee – sits on the management board of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Testbiotech and Corporate Europe Observatory say that the appointment of Mella Frewen, lobby chief at FoodDrinkEurope (previously known as the CIAA) will create a conflict of interests for the food agency's management board.

Brussels, 7 March 2012 – Secret lobbying by the nuclear industry and an open door at the European Commission have kept nuclear power on the EU’s agenda, despite public concern following the disaster at Fukushima, according to a new report from Corporate Europe Observatory published today, a year after the meltdown at Fukushima in Japan [1].

Industry lobbying on EU climate policy looks set to secure further subsidies for energy-intensive industries through the reform of the European Commission's State Aid, according to a new report published by Corporate Europe Observatory and Carbon Trade Watch