Online privacy, clean air, affordable housing, whistleblower protection and much more: which other corporate lobby fights are putting EU public interests on the line?
The Qatargate scandal reveals the shortcomings of lobbying regulation in the EU institutions. Now is the time to act! See CEO's list of proposals to stop repressive regime lobbying.
In this new episode we dive into the incredible story on how Fortress Europe is being constructed by an European agency called the ‘European Border and Coast Guard Agency’ AKA Frontex, almost in the dark and without any democratic oversight. With billions of EU tax payer’s money and the help of dozens of lobbyists from defence, arms and surveillance technology industries, Frontex is creating a world that George Orwell would have found inspiring when writing his book ‘1984’.
The massive expansion of the budget, personnel, and powers of the EU's border agency Frontex has also seen increasingly privileged access for industry. This perpetuates a vision of border control based on more and more firearms and biometric surveillance that has major human rights implications.
Corporate Europe Observatory uncovers the autocratic kingdom’s Brussels-based spin doctors, from a think tank headed by former European prime ministers, to lobby consultancies specialising in 'privatised diplomacy’, and the use of discredited social media disinformation firms.
An outcry from city governments has helped shelve the European Commission’s power grab over services. The Commission has failed to install a Services Notification Procedure, which would have given it advance veto power over new laws by regional and local governments, and could have further limited local democratic initiatives in areas as varied as affordable housing, energy supply and waste management.
Journalist and Corporate Europe Observatory board member Jakub Patočka comments on the conflicts of interest scandals of the oligarch-turned-Czech Prime Minister – and explains how an injection of democracy is also needed at the EU level.
A deregulatory zeal continues to sweep through the European Commission and member states, now turbo-charged by the ‘innovation principle’ and the new ‘One In, One Out’ mantra.
Authoritarian right wing parties look set to do well at the upcoming European elections. But there is a huge gap between their 'anti-elite' rhetoric and the reality,
European Commission plans to reform the EU Services Directive have quietly collapsed. This is really good news for local democracy in Europe.
China is flexing its soft power in Europe, cultivating networks of think tanks and lobbyists, in particular to promote its flagship programme the 'New Silk Road'. Meanwhile European failures in lobby transparency mean these influencing activities take place far beyond the light of public scrutiny.
In an open letter to European Commissioner Bieńkowska we've expressed the grave concerns of several civil society groups and political parties involved in running major European cities about flaws in the European Commission’s preparation of the Services Notification Procedure Directive, which put local democracy at risk.
New information shows the chilling scope of proposed EU rules on services (the ‘Bolkestein Directive’) that would give the Commission advance veto power over decisions taken by parliaments and city councils on a vast range of services, including everything from childcare, to energy, to water, and even sex work.
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