Chilling Intent

Millions of euros of EU research money is being directed towards controversial projects which do not benefit the public interest, according to new research from Corporate Europe Observatory published today [1].

The report, which is launched as the European Commission hosts a conference on research in Brussels [2], says that the approval of so-many controversial projects is not surprising, given that many of the companies were also involved in writing the EU’s Strategic Research Agenda, which sets the priorities for new research.

A year ago, on May 10th 2011, the Spanish activist and writer Ramón Fernández Durán died. Together with the Transnational Institute and Ecologistas en Acción, Corporate Europe Observatory has just published an English edition of his last book, the Breakdown of Global Capitalism. Here Belen Balanya talks about why the book is so important, and shares her memories of the author.

The US investment bank Goldman Sachs is earning a reputation as public enemy no. 1 in the financial world. At the same time the firm is one of the Commission’s favourites when it comes to asking for advice on regulating financial markets . It is high time for the Commission to close the door on Goldman Sachs, this article concludes.

Brazil launched its PR offensive for sugarcane ethanol at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen on day two (Tuesday 8 December) with a “dialogue” session on the “contribution of biofuels to climate change mitigation”.