EU institutions

Brussels is at the centre of EU decision-making and as such attracts thousands of lobbyists promoting the interests of big business. In this section you can find basic information about this corporate lobbying and how it affects you as a citizen. Or you can visit our specific pages on the revolving door phenomenon of politicians who become lobbyists – and vice versa – and on the corporate dominance of expert groups whose advice helps make official policy for the EU.

If you want to investigate corporate lobbying, we have put together a list of online tools that can help.

Real sanctions vital to stop lobby register abuses

22.03.2018

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

Selmayrgate: Or why the Secretary-General job matters

20.03.2018

The appointment of Martin Selmayr as new Secretary-General of the European Commission took almost everybody by surprise. This new role makes Selmayr the head of some 33,000 commission staff and, thusly, a crucial actor in processes that can support or hinder public interest policy-making.

Climate

The beginning of a Parliamentary rebellion?

15.03.2018

177 Members of the European Parliament took a stand in Strasbourg yesterday, voting to not give EU money and political support to more than a hundred new pipelines and other gas infrastructure projects.

More secrecy rights for business in the UK? No thanks!

14.03.2018

The UK government will shortly bring new EU rules on industrial espionage into law. But civil society is concerned that these new rules risk creating a chilling effect on future corporate whistle-blowers and those who report their stories.

EU tax officials: open door for tobacco lobbyists

22.02.2018

New research by the Tobacco Investigations Desk shows that tobacco industry lobbyists worked hard to weaken the European Commission’s stance on tobacco product taxes, while enjoying an “open door policy”, despite having signed on to an international treaty to protect public health officials from tobacco lobbyists.

EU trade policy must be more democratic, say 162 organisations

05.02.2018

162 civil society organisations from across Europe have called for European trade policy to be made more democratic. Only a democratic and transparent process from its inception has the potential to ensure that trade and investment agreements will benefit all.

Revolving doors

Will 2018 finally bring a revolving doors reform?

22.01.2018

The push for reform continues from within the European Parliament, from the Ombudsman’s office and from civil society. This year, two Ombudsman inquiries, a Parliament discussion on the use of transitional allowances to prevent conflicts of interest, and finally, Parliament’s reaction to the Commission proposal for reforming Commissioners’ ethics rules all need to be wrapped up.

Here’s a roundup of the various factors that might push a reform of the revolving-door rules in 2018.

Financial lobby

ECB President Draghi’s membership of mega-bankers’ club is “maladministration”

17.01.2018

The decision of the European Ombudsman to ask the European Central Bank President to end his membership of an opaque and exclusive club dominated by financial corporations is a step towards ending a culture of secretive collusion between regulators and big banks.

Dodgy Deals

19.12.2017

CETA has now been provisionally applied. Our new mobile and desktop game Dodgy Deals lets players face some of the dangerous features of trade deals like CETA and shows what is at stake.

Big Business Brexit: Corporate interests still dominate Brexit and trade lobbying

13.12.2017

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.

Ten highlights from 2017

12.12.2017

As we head towards 2018, it's important to take stock of some of this year’s highlights in our fight against the corporate capture of democracy.

Corporate lobbying influence over the Council of the EU

06.12.2017

Corporate Europe Observatory has started a new workstream to publish investigations which expose corporate lobby influence over the decision-making of the Council of the EU (member states) and how this impacts on resulting laws and policies. This is one of murkiest and least-known aspects of EU decision-making.