Articles

Campaigners today called on the new president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, to cut his ties with an elite banking lobby group in order to protect the independence of the Central Bank.

Is it right that central bankers should be members of lobby groups or think tanks where they meet with the chief executives of big private banks to produce advice on banking regulation for the rest of the world? Is it a problem if bankers walk back and forth between public and private office? These two questions are worth asking at the current time as Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank has handed over control to Mario Draghi.

The Plenary of the European Parliament yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of freezing part of the budget for the European Commission's expert groups until new rules are introduced to provide safeguards against their capture by special interests and to improve transparency.

ALTER-EU has welcomed this initiative by the Parliament to put pressure on the European Commission to prevent the corporate capture of EU policy preparation.

In the latest dramatic episode in the escalating eurocrisis, the troubled Dexia bank has been dismantled and split up into smaller bits (including a large 'bad bank'), most of which have been nationalised and now belong to the French and Belgian governments. Dexia shares had dropped from 20 euro to less than one euro when trading was terminated last week.

Today, 28 September 2011, the European Parliament votes on six legislative acts on "economic governance", also known as the "six-pack on economic governance". Corporate Europe Observatory, together with other European public interest organisations and trade unions calls on MEPs to reject the six proposals, and to join forces with social movements in our attempt to set Europe on a new course, a course of democracy, welfare and social rights.