Press

Press release

Austrian presidency halts as cities, unions and civil society oppose EU crackdown on municipalities

14.11.2018

Reacting to a protest letter they received this morning, the Austrian EU Presidency has just cancelled tomorrow’s talks about a controversial proposed EU directive that would create major new obstacles for progressive municipal policies and initiatives. The coalition behind the letter opposing the directive represents over ten million EU citizens.

Press release

Chance to bolster EU's pesticide risk system against industry influence sees rise of big coalition

31.10.2018

More than 100 civil society organisations and institutions including Corporate Europe Observatory, as well as 25 individual experts, have banded together as Citizens for Science in Pesticide Regulation, a new European coalition launched today, which demands a comprehensive reform of the EU pesticide risk assessment system.
Press release

Will business secrecy keep defeating the public's right to know on food safety?

14.09.2018

As discussions about a European Commission proposal on the transparency of EU food safety data are underway in both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, organisers of the #StopGlyphosate European Citizens' Initiative today warned that to live up to its promising objectives, the proposal must be amended.

Press release

ECJ ruling on gene editing products: Victory for consumers, farmers, environment

25.07.2018

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed in a ruling the legal status of food and feed crops derived from certain new genetic modification techniques. It gave clear confirmation that organisms from these new gene editing techniques are covered by existing EU GMO regulation.

Press release

Industry fights EU cancer warning for sunscreen chemical with unregistered lobbyists

11.07.2018

From sunscreen to paint, sweets and toothpaste, titanium dioxide is a chemical whitener found in many everyday products. An ongoing EU process to classify the chemical as a “suspected carcinogen” when inhaled could lead to product warning labels. But hefty lobbying by the chemicals industry seems to be weakening the resolve of the member states taking the final decision.
Press release

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.

Press release

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

Press release

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.
Press release

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.