Biosafety in Danger

June 29th 2018Environment, Food and agriculture
Documents released to Corporate Europe Observatory following a Freedom of Information request reveal how pro-biotech lobby platform Public Research Regulation Initiative (PRRI) unites industry, researchers and regulators in ‘like-minded’ groups to influence crucial international biosafety talks under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

One Treaty to rule them all

June 13th 2018Climate and energy, International trade
A new report from CEO and TNI exposes how the little-known but expanding Energy Charter Treaty gives corporations the power to halt the energy transition. And how it is being expanded, threatening to bind yet more countries to corporate-friendly energy policies.

Commission protects AirBnB lobby paper as ‘commercial secret’

June 12th 2018The power of lobbies
The European Commission rebranded AirBnB lobbying documents as ‘commercial secrets’ and therefore denied public access. After eight months of wrangling over their release, Corporate Europe Observatory can report the documents show that AirBnB and similar rental platforms are attacking measures used by cities to protect affordable housing.

Shutting down ePrivacy: lobby bandwagon targets Council

June 4th 2018The power of lobbies
Industry lobbyists who want to continue monetising users’ online data are battling against new ePrivacy regulations, targeting EU member states in the Council. And some member state governments are only too happy to help.

JEFTA: An exclusive trade between EU negotiators and big business

May 28th 2018The power of lobbies, International trade
The EU member state vote on the EU-Japan trade agreement is close, but not all interest groups had an equal say when the deal was hashed out. Official figures from the European Commission show that big business had many more meetings with the EU trade negotiators than small businesses, trade unions and other civil society actors did.

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Jonathan Hill cashes in on Brexit with revolving door move to Swiss bank UBS

May 30th 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.

#EmbracingNature?

May 14th 2018Food and agriculture

In May 2017, the global biotech and seed industry lobby groups landed in Budapest for their annual congress. They launched a joint campaign with one key goal: to get governments worldwide to adopt a zero-regulation approach to new genetic modification (GM) techniques, often termed gene-editing techniques. The seed industry magazine SeedWorld stated that the timing of this international campaign is critical “as policymakers and governments around the world discuss plant breeding innovations, and if and how they should be regulated”.

EU steps back from Trump & Polluters at UN climate talks

May 14th 2018The power of lobbies, Climate and energy

Thanks to bottom-up pressure the European Union stepped back from supporting Trump and his big polluters’ agenda, but fell short of backing calls for a conflict of interest policy at the UN climate talks.

Trump & Fossil Fuels or People & Planet at UN climate talks

April 30th 2018The power of lobbies, Climate and energy

Tackling conflicts of interest at the UN climate talks is up for negotiation: should fossil fuel interests be allowed to participate at these conferences, or even in climate policy-making in general?

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