Lobby Planet: Putting Brussels' lobbyists on the map

Brussels, Friday 23 September – Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) today launched its unique new guide to the hidden world of corporate lobbying in Brussels, highlighting the key players, the locations and the tactics used by big business to influence decision making in the European Union.

The new edition of the Lobby Planet to Brussels’ EU quarter features a guide to some of the biggest lobby players operating in Brussels, as well as three thematic tours, highlighting the carbon lobby, the finance lobby and the agribusiness lobby.

The guide also features a specially-commissioned cartoon of Brussels’ lobbyists at work, and full colour maps to guide you through the streets and squares of the EU quarter. There are an estimated 15-30,000 lobbyists targeting EU decision makers in Brussels, mainly representing business interests, making the EU quarter home to one of the highest concentrations of lobbyists in the world.

Launching the Lobby Planet, CEO’s research coordinator, Olivier Hoedeman said:

“Brussels is now home to an incredible number of lobbyists, drawn by the easy opportunities to influence decision making in the European Union. And of course, big business interests dominate. Many people do not realise how powerful these lobbyists have become. That is why we’ve produced the Lobby Planet – to put Brussels’ industry lobbyists on the map and highlight the role they play.”

The first edition of Corporate Europe Observatory’s Lobby Planet guide was produced in 2004, and proved an eye-opener to many who were unaware of the scale of industry lobbying in Brussels. The number of lobbyists in the EU capital has grown significantly since then and there are growing calls for greater transparency and stricter rules on lobbying.

CEO, Brussels’ leading lobby watchdog, is campaigning to curb the power of the corporate lobby and reclaim democracy in the European Union.

Copies of the guide are available as a pdf and hard copies are available to buy.

ENDS

Contact: Olivier Hoedeman: email: olivier@corporateeurope.org, tel: +32 (0)2 893 0930, Mobile: +32 (0)474 486 545

Notes:

1. Lobby Planet – Brussels, the EU quarter is published by Corporate Europe Observatory, September 2011, ISBN 978-94-6190-252-8 See: http://www.corporateeurope.org/publications/putting-brussels-lobbyists-map

2. Copies of the cover – featuring a cartoon by the artist Khalil Bendib – are available as a pdf – contact helen@corporateeurope.org