Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Opinion

Why Brussels' toxic lobbying culture must end

  • Did you know German carmakers Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche and BMW have all provided free vehicles to the EU's rotating presidencies since 2012 - just as the regulations on vehicle emissions were being negotiated? (Photo: EUobserver)

When it comes to accountability and transparency at the EU, it will not come as a surprise to many that some Brussels institutions do not fare too well in terms of voters' trust and confidence.

After all, the influence that lobbyists have on EU officials is notorious - from the nightly corporate cocktail receptions in Brussels to the revolving door of former commissioners lobbying their successors on behalf of multinationals.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Report alleges Angela Merkel had a word with Jean-Claude Juncker... (Photo: consilium.europa.au)

However, what is often ignored is that these same people are supposed to be our representatives in Brussels.

A report out this week sheds new light on this problem and details the influence lobbyists have on member state representatives and embassies inside the EU, who in turn hold huge sway in shaping EU legislation.

The study, Captured States: How EU Governments are a Channel for Corporate Interests' by Corporate Europe Observatory lays out how many EU member state embassies and their permanent representatives are essentially corporate mouthpieces, channelling multinationals' influence.

Did you know, for example, that German carmakers Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche and BMW have all provided free vehicles to the EU's rotating presidencies since 2012, just as the regulations on vehicle emissions were being negotiated?

They call it sponsorship.

What is revelatory about this study is the sheer number of embassies, committees and advisory groups that lobbyists can target: from the Council all the way down to standing committee on plants, animals, food and feed.

This is in addition to the commission and various MEPs and officials at the parliament. No wonder Germany refused to divulge which lobbyists their people have been meeting to the authors of this study - something to hide?

Take the Council of Europe and mobile phone roaming charges negotiations in the EU.

Telefonica and roaming charges

It is well known that Telefonica has historically enjoyed close ties with the Spanish government. What we discover is that the council's proposals were actually far more industry-friendly than anything the commission or parliament had put forward.

Big operators like Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and France's Orange were pulling the strings behind member states' negotiators.

Yes, the operators ultimately failed in putting the boot into new roaming rules but they were somewhat saved by the Spanish officials who successfully weakened the final EU agreement.

Similarly, this study also details how German carmakers were working overtime on lobbying esoteric bodies like expert and advisory groups such as the technical committee on motor vehicles.

The result?

Europe's new real-world emissions test standards were undermined and delayed, thus prolonging toxic emissions and contributing to more deaths annually.

Dieselgate and Glyphosate

And the orders for the delay came directly from Angela Merkel in a phone call to Jean-Claude Juncker via an email from the Bavarian minister president's office acting on behalf of BMW and the German Association of the Automotive Industry.

So even Europe's most powerful leader has done the bidding of lobbyists.

The fact that many of these crucial EU committees are often complex and opaque means there is little transparency or accountability.

Everything from the renewal of glyphosate - involving Monsanto now owned by German chemicals giant, Bayer, and in cahoots with the Bundesinstitut fur Risikobewertung (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) - to austerity and fiscal governance policies, the cosy ties between member state governments, former EU officials and corporations are so entrenched and historic that they threaten the democratic process.

These are serious, endemic and systematic problems.

Elite corporate lobbies enjoy unrivalled access to member state leaders - something that civic groups and NGOs can only dream of.

It's outrageous to also learn from the study that member states even actively seek out corporate lobbies to champion a particular cause or on behalf of a national industry - as the recent Austrian presidency did with the steel producer Voestalpine, that would ultimately promote the use of fossil fuels.

The study puts forward a number of recommendations to put a stop to this toxic culture.

The fact that the public are now more aware of what lobbyists get up to is positive.

However, the lack of citizens' input into national decision-making on EU matters must be reversed.

We urgently need more transparency through lobby registers across all EU institutions, and all member states must publish their positions during negotiations.

We must bolster the European Ombudsman who does a great job in defending transparency.

Above all, there needs to be a wholesale cultural change from member state parliaments to the EU institutions. 500 million citizens deserve better - we cannot go on like this.

Author bio

Martin Schirdewan is an MEP with the GUE/NGL group from the German Left Party.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

Razor-edge victory for more lobbying transparency at EP

New rules to force MEPs chairing committees or drafting reports to publish meetings with registered lobbyists took a step closer to reality. The measure was narrowly backed 11 to 10 at the constitutional affairs committee but still needs plenary approval.

Greens boycott EU-Morocco vote after lobbying expose

EUobserver has exposed Moroccan lobbying at the European Parliament, prompting a probe to be launched against several MEPs. The Greens have now decided to boycott next week's Morocco trade vote in protest, saying the lobbying investigation must be finished first.

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Column

EU's Gaza policy: boon for dictators, bad for democrats

While they woo dictators and autocrats, EU policymakers are becoming ever more estranged from the world's democrats. The real tragedy is the erosion of one of Europe's key assets: its huge reserves of soft power, writes Shada Islam.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us