Lobbying the EU

How vulnerable are the EU institutions to undue corporate influence, and what gaps exist in EU lobbying and ethics rules?

ALTER-EU verdict on the review of the EU Transparency Register: “hugely disappointing”

27.01.2014

Transparency campaigners cannot find a single area of “good progress” made by the review group to improve the EU’s lobby register, according to a scorecard published today by ALTER-EU. The scorecard assesses the outcome of the recent EU Transparency Register review process against ALTER-EU's own recommendations for reform. The assessment has been made after receiving leaked copies of the final outcome of the review process.

“Stop 2014 being year of revolving door!” say transparency campaigners

21.01.2014

The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) has today urged President Barroso to put in place new rules to prevent the current crop of European commissioners from going through the revolving door in 2014. As the Barroso II Commission nears the end of its term in office, transparency campaigners believe that the cooling-off period which applies to former commissioners taking on lobby jobs should be extended from 18 months to three years to prevent a repeat of the conflict of interest scandals which dogged the end of the Barroso I Commission.

Whatever happened to McCreevy, Verheugen et al?

16.01.2014

In 2010 when the Barroso I Commission left office, there was a public outcry when six out of the 13 departing commissioners went almost immediately into the corporate sector or lobby jobs, provoking the risk of possible conflicts of interest. Now in 2014, CEO has looked again at these six former commissioners to see what lessons can be learnt as the Barroso II Commission prepares to leave office later this year.

Barnier’s ban on meetings with lobbyists

13.01.2014

Commissioner Barnier has surprisingly announced a temporary ban on meetings with the financial lobby. An important and telling step, but more is needed if the objective is to curb the lobbying power of the banks.

The curious incident of the tobacco lobbyist in the Commission's ethics committee

08.01.2014

Faced with the threat of a highly critical verdict from the European Ombudsman just before Christmas, the Commission quietly smuggled out an announcement that a controversial appointee to its ethics committee had been replaced, presumably hoping to take the sting out of what could have been a very uncomfortable media tale for the Commission. Afterall, it is not every day that the Commission's position is called “inconceivable and naïve” by another EU institution.

2014 needs a new year resolution to tackle the revolving door

06.01.2014

Two new revolving door cases published today by Corporate Europe Observatory illustrate how the revolving door continues to spin between the EU institutions and the corporate sector, and how the EU needs a far tougher approach to tackling potential conflicts of interest.

Busting the myths of transparency around the EU-US trade deal

25.09.2013

On 7 October, the second round of negotiations for a far-reaching transatlantic trade deal will begin in Brussels. Amidst calls for greater openness and public participation, the European Commission has gone into propaganda mode, promoting myths about the transparency and accountability of the talks. See through its feel-good rhetoric with Corporate Europe Observatory’s myth-busting guide to secrecy, corporate influence and lack of accountability in the transatlantic trade negotiations.

Pesticides, tobacco and greedy lawyers: the most read stories from CEO in 2013

20.12.2013

With a new directive on tobacco being passed and the negotiations for a trade deal with the US getting started, 2013 has seen intense lobbying battles and CEO has been following them closely. The ban on some bee-killing pesticides, the investment arbitration boom and conflicts of interests at the European Food Safety Authority have also been among the hottest issues in CEO's research and campaigning work. Here are the most read stories this year, according to our website statistics. Have you missed any of them?

NGOs welcome Ombudsman’s damning report which heavily criticises Commission

20.12.2013

Yesterday (19 December 2013) the Ombudsman published a damning report into the European Commission's re-appointment of a lawyer with links to the tobacco industry to its ad hoc ethical committee. Here NGOs comment on the ruling which could set an important precedent on handling possible conflicts of interest in the future.

Transparency about lobby register deal urgently needed – publish the agreement!

18.12.2013

Huge unclarity remains about what was actually decided last week about the future of the EU's lobby transparency register at the final meeting of the group of MEPs and Commission officials tasked with reviewing the register.

Deal about transition to mandatory EU lobby transparency or not?

13.12.2013

After the interinstitutional EP-EC working group on the review of the EU lobby Transparency Register had its closing meeting, there is confusion over outcome of EP-EC working group. Was agreement reached between MEPs and Commissioner Šefčovič on making the register mandatory or not?

The EU must make its lobby transparency register TTIP-proof!

11.12.2013

In the light of the clear risks which the TTIP talks pose to environmental and health protection, it is crucial that the EU's lobby transparency register helps create full visibility around industry lobbying of TTIP talks. Only a mandatory register which requires comprehensive and reliable information about lobbying will shed light on corporate lobby pressure on the TTIP talks.