lobby transparency

Industry lobbyists are spending millions of euros to influence an upcoming EU decision on labelling titanium dioxide – found in everyday products like sunscreen – a “suspected carcinogen”. The lobbying is led by an unregistered trade association and a public relations consultancy; nonetheless, they appear to have the ear of member states and the European Commission.

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.

Find out how the EU lobby register Secretariat has been dealing with CEO complaints about dodgy data, including by Monsanto.

91 per cent of meetings held by UK trade ministers (10/2016 - 06/2017) and 70 per cent of meetings held by UK Brexit ministers have been with business, too often big business, interests. This corporate bias in ministerial access is part of an ongoing trend.

Dodgy data and missing lobby organisations still characterise the EU’s voluntary lobby transparency register. Corporate Europe Observatory has now submitted a series of complaints on specific entries, and urges decision-makers to get tough on those who break the rules.

MEPs are about to determine how secure our data is when we are online in this week's vote on ePrivacy Regulation. For the past 16 months, industry lobbies, including all those who commercially use personal online data, have been vigorously opposing new proposals on ePrivacy, while digital rights campaigners demand optimum data privacy for citizens online.

Flemish daily De Standaard last week reported on the remarkable fact that Clean Europe Network – a coalition of litter prevention organisations – is run by Eamonn Bates, a veteran Brussels lobby firm that also chairs Pack2Go, the lobby group of companies producing plastic bottles, disposable cups and other packaging.

Think tanks work all around the institutions of the European Union but how they work and who they work for is often less clear. Our new report offers a closer look at these supposedly impartial hubs of expertise and highlights how the think-tank status has become a convenient vehicle for corporate lobbying activities.

The response to two complaints about broken rules and dodgy data in the lobby register confirms the current system is toothless, argues CEO.

Splits occur within European Commission, as European Parliament, Ombudsman and NGOs increase the pressure for implementing UN rules for contacts with tobacco industry lobbyists.

A Corporate Europe Observatory complaint to the lobby register secretariat is challenging the Commission to properly implement its own lobby transparency rules.