Articles

Economy & finance

Big Four, big influence: architects of corporate tax avoidance embedded in EU policy-making to fight the problem

10.07.2018

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.

EU institutions

Accounting for influence

10.07.2018

We pay our taxes, so why don’t corporations? The Big Four are embedded in EU policy-making on tax avoidance and this report concludes that it is time to kick this industry out of EU anti-tax avoidance policy.

EU Ombudsman unyielding on G30, demands Draghi leave lobby group

05.07.2018

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

Food

Biosafety in Danger

29.06.2018

Documents released to Corporate Europe Observatory following a Freedom of Information request reveal how pro-biotech lobby platform Public Research Regulation Initiative (PRRI) unites industry, researchers and regulators in ‘like-minded’ groups to influence crucial international biosafety talks under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Trade

One Treaty to rule them all

13.06.2018

A new report from CEO and TNI exposes how the little-known but expanding Energy Charter Treaty gives corporations the power to halt the energy transition. And how it is being expanded, threatening to bind yet more countries to corporate-friendly energy policies.
EU institutions

Commission protects AirBnB lobby paper as ‘commercial secret’

12.06.2018

The European Commission rebranded AirBnB lobbying documents as ‘commercial secrets’ and therefore denied public access. After eight months of wrangling over their release, Corporate Europe Observatory can report the documents show that AirBnB and similar rental platforms are attacking measures used by cities to protect affordable housing.
EU institutions

In battle for ePrivacy, Council of EU set to side with advertisers, telecoms and Big Data

04.06.2018

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.
EU institutions

Shutting down ePrivacy: lobby bandwagon targets Council

04.06.2018

Industry lobbyists who want to continue monetising users’ online data are battling against new ePrivacy regulations, targeting EU member states in the Council. And some member state governments are only too happy to help.

Jonathan Hill cashes in on Brexit with revolving door move to Swiss bank UBS

30.05.2018

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.