Latest posts
Ex-Commissioners going through the revolving door: transparency promise delayed
In April 2011 following a public outcry about ex-Commissioners going through the revolving door into industry (lobby) jobs, the European Commission introduced a slightly stricter Code of Conduct for Commissioners. No fewer than 6 out of the 13 Commis...
That revolving door just keeps on spinning ... yet the Commission seems unwilling to do anything about it
A couple of weeks ago, the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) launched a new campaign to block the revolving door. Alongside numerous cases of officials, often at the very highest levels in the EU institutions, who ha...
Swedish MEP lobbying row underlines need for rules on parliament-industry forums
Swedish environment minister Lena Ek last week came under fire for her role in the European Energy Forum (EEF), a cross-party group of MEPs which is funded by large corporations such as Shell, Nord Stream and Vattenfall. Ek, who acted as vice-chairma...
Block the revolving door!
Brussels bubble watchers might remember the names of Verheugen, McCreevy, Ferrero-Waldner, Kuneva – all former EU commissioners who left public service and went through the revolving door into lobby jobs or other jobs which provoked conflicts of in...
Gifts, shares and other loopholes – the MEP code of conduct
If a week is a long time in politics, then it appears that seven months is a veritable aeon. That's how long it has been since the Sunday Times exposed the cash-for-influence scandal which engulfed three MEPs and caused some soul-searching in the EU'...
European Public Affairs Awards Showcase Worst Lobbyists?
Voting closes today for the European Public Affairs Awards, the self-congratulatory awards organised by Brussels lobby consultancy firms and their lobby groups EPACA and SEAP.Categories for the EPA Awards include 'Consultancy of the year', 'Rising St...
UK lobby scandal: lessons from Brussels
UK politics has over the last weeks been shaken by a lobbying scandal that led to the resignation of Defence Secretary Liam Fox. Fox allowed a close friend, Adam Werrity, access to government meetings at the highest level. There are strong indication...
Banker and MEP – an unhappy combination
In the latest dramatic episode in the escalating eurocrisis, the troubled Dexia bank has been dismantled and split up into smaller bits (including a large 'bad bank'), most of which have been nationalised and now belong to the French and Belgian gove...
Visit Brussels – the heart of lobbying
Have you noticed the new VisitBrussels promotional video campaign springing up around the city in the last couple of weeks? So far, we've spotted it at Gare du Midi and Place Flagey. Among the glossy photos and promises of fun-filled weekends, is the...
The new MEP code of conduct – the final reckoning
On numerous occasions over the last few months, this blog has focused on the cash-for-influence scandal in the European Parliament and its aftermath – specifically the process to develop a code of conduct for MEPs. Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO...
A critical week for European ethics
This is a crucial week for European ethics, not least with an important meeting of the Buzek working group to look at a draft MEP code of conduct and the launch of the joint transparency register between the Parliament and the Commission. So it's ver...
Will the European Parliament stay bottom of the league?
As the Buzek working group to develop a code of conduct for MEPs following the cash-for-amendments scandal Corporate Europe Observatory starts to wrap up its work, it could do worse than look at a recent academic study which shows that the European P...
Back to business as usual for MEPs?
Concerns about excessive bureaucracy, or arbitrary limits being placed on gifts which MEPs can receive, or fears for the careers of MEPs at the end of their term in office, were just some of the disappointing responses when the ALTER-EU coalition gav...
Industry lobbies step up spin on cash-for-amendments scandal
After the intense debate and media attention in the first weeks after the European Parliament's cash-for-amendments scandal broke, it has become very quiet in the last weeks. Discussions about transparency and ethics reforms in the wake of the scanda...
Bothered and bewildered – my first week in EU-land
I just started work at Corporate Europe Observatory last week as Lobbycracy campaigner. The complex and secret world of the EU institutions is not new to me: afterall I used to work on European trade policy so I'm used to seeing untransparency in act...
Bothered and bewildered – my first week in EU-land
I just started work at Corporate Europe Observatory last week as Lobbycracy campaigner. The complex and secret world of the EU institutions is not new to me: afterall I used to work on European trade policy so I'm used to seeing untransparency in act...
McCreevy strikes back, ridiculing Commission's rules
Former internal market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy waited just one week after the requirement that he informed the Commission of his professional activities expired, before he signed a contract to join the board of a bank.McCreevy stepped down as a...
Cash-for-amendments scandal just the tip of the iceberg
New rules needed to curb power of corporate lobbyists in the European Parliament Unleashing one of the biggest lobbying scandals in EU history, the Sunday Times has in the last two weeks exposed four MEPs who had agreed to table amendments to change...
Industry inspired amendments defeated
On March 7, MEPs in the Parliament's economic affairs committee voted down the vast majority of the amendments inspired by the derivatives industry. This was thanks to the compromise amendments proposed by the rapporteur Pascal Canfin.The MEPs propos...
Will MEPs vote for amendments written by the derivatives lobby?
On March 7, the European Parliament's economic affairs committee will vote on amendments to the Commission's proposals to regulate one of the most controversial derivative financial products, Credit Default Swaps. The London MEP Syed Kamall (European...
