Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) Profile picture
CEO challenges the influence of Big Business and corporate lobby groups in EU policy-making. 🐘 @corporateeurope@mstdn.social 🟦 @corporateeurope.bsky.social
Nov 17, 2023 7 tweets 4 min read
🚨NEW

The AI Act is at risk of being derailed by a last-minute Big Tech lobbying offensive, our research shows.

✋Fundamental rights are at risk of being sacrificed for the sake of corporate profits.

Read the publication here 👉 corporateeurope.org/en/2023/11/byt…
“By by byte: How Big Tech undermined the AI Act” cover page Big Tech enjoys privileged access to the EU institutions lobbying the AI Act.

❌86 percent of meetings of @EU_Commission high-level officials were with industry
❌66 percent of MEP meetings were with corporate interests

#PrivilegedAccess
Infographic showing that 86 percent of EU Commission meetings in 2023 were with industry
Infographic showing that 66 percent of MEP meetings in 2023 were with industry
Oct 11, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
We’re very happy to have had the possibility of hearing Dr. Michael Antoniou, Reader in Molecular Genetics at @KingsCollegeLon about new GMOs and issue related to the push for deregulation in the EU and elsewhere 🧵1 What are some of the unintended effects for health and environment from new GMOs? 🧵2
Sep 22, 2023 7 tweets 4 min read
1/7

As #PFAS consultation ends on Monday, check out our research on the industry, its lobby allies & strategies to weaken EU’s proposed restriction on #ForeverChemicals

Time to #BanPFAS to stop environmental pollution & the growing human health costs.

corporateeurope.org/en/pfas-are-fo…
Image 2/7

#PFAS are everywhere and burden of dealing with human health & environmental consequences are to be counted in billions at EU level.

Globally it could be trillions.

125 NGOs demand to #BanPFAS in consumer products by 2025 & a complete ban by 2030.

corporateeurope.org/en/pfas-are-fo…
Image
Sep 13, 2023 10 tweets 3 min read
Today, the President of the Commission von der Leyen did her annual State of the Union speech. Well written, but between the lines you hear a Europe with big business at the steering wheel along with conservative politicians.

Our 9 worst moments from #SOTEU 2023 below. Image 1⃣ “We shifted the climate agenda to being an economic one”

Yes, on so many occasions, the business agenda of growth and competitiveness has undermined the fight against climate change. Image
Mar 23, 2023 10 tweets 7 min read
🚨 Read our new report on #hydrogen 🚨

🔴 It shows how it is being used as a Trojan horse to prolong the use of #FossilFuels

✊The EU must scrap its unrealistic H2 targets and increase investment in energy efficiency and just renewables


👉 Here: corporateeurope.org/en/GermanysGre… Report cover, map of Africa and an air balloon sayin Hydroge 🚨Behind the hype, this hydrogen push will actually lead to higher CO2 emissions

⛔It’s not because you put the word green in front of #Hydrogen that it becomes climate friendly


👉 Read all about it here: corporateeurope.org/en/GermanysGre… The hydrogen supply chain from production to transport to po
Jan 23, 2023 5 tweets 5 min read
“We cannot let the oil companies and gas companies and petrostates tell us what is permissible” - @AlGore in #Davos

🧵 Read more exerts as he calls out fossil fuel industry influence
#KickBigPollutersOut
#FossilFreePolitics
vimeo.com/790965733
1/
2/"Putting the oil industry in charge of the COP. Is that going to tell young people around the world ‘we’ve just decided to not even disguise it any more’? The rest of us have to reform these international institutions"

@AlGore let's #KickBigPollutersOut of the UN climate talks
Jan 23, 2023 4 tweets 3 min read
1/4
#LobbyFacts is a one-stop shop of data on EU lobbying in Brussels, bringing together info on:

➡️Lobby spend & turnover
➡️Numbers of lobbyists
➡️High-level Commission mtgs held
➡️Country of origin
➡️Issues lobbied on
➡️And more ...

lobbyfacts.eu/how-to 2/4 Get the low-down on how to get the best out of #LobbyFacts with this brand new video which talks you through how to search, filter, and sort EU lobby data to find the best stories.

Nov 16, 2022 20 tweets 17 min read
📢BREAKING: 95% of #COP27 sponsors have ties to the fossil fuel industry 📢

New research by @StopCorpAbuse @corporateeurope shows how 18 out 20 sponsors are linked to climate-wrecking fossil fuel corps.

Read the summary and then dig into each sponsor in this thread 🧵👇🏽 #COP27 sponsors include

🏦 Banks like @afreximbank @MashreqTweets
💽 Silicon valley beasts like @Microsoft @Cisco @IBM @Google
📶 Communication giant @VodafoneGroup
✈️ Airline @EGYPTAIR
🚘 Car company @GM
🫗 And of course @CocaCola
+ many more
Nov 15, 2022 6 tweets 6 min read
The oily hands of the #fossilfuels industry have #COP27 in its grip, with more than 630 lobbyists present in Sharm El-Sheik.

The calls to #KickBigPollutersOut are growing. But what are the concrete demands behind the call?

Thread 🧵👇🏽
kickbigpollutersout.org/demands 🛑 Stop Big Polluters writing the rules via their access to policy making.

🧾The UNFCCC needs to establish an accountability framework to end the #corporatecapture.
#KickBigPollutersOut of #COP27

kickbigpollutersout.org
Nov 11, 2022 8 tweets 8 min read
1/8

#ElonMusk’s takeover of #Twitter has made many reflect on:

➡️Concentration of social & political power with super-rich
➡️Shocking treatment of its workforce
➡️Threats to content moderation
➡️Undermining of democracy
➡️Pandering to far right forces

bit.ly/3Uv7ISQ Elon Musk by creator James ... 2/8

#Twitter’s track record was already bad to begin with:

🚩Fines for selling users’ data
🚩Breaching EU data laws
🚩Algorithm has amplified hate speech

And all to sustain its business model based on surveillance advertising

nytimes.com/2022/11/04/opi… Image
Nov 10, 2022 6 tweets 7 min read
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
630+ fossil fuel lobbyists at #COP27

New research from CEO @stopcorpabuse & @globalwitness shows #fossilfuels lobbyists at COP up by over 100 vs Glasgow last year.

Here’s a thread 🧵
bbc.co.uk/news/science-e…
#KickBigPollutersOut #COP27 is the “African COP” yet the fossil fuel delegation is larger than that of any African country.

“How are you going to address the dire climate impacts on the continent” with this imbalance, asks @PhilipJakpor from @CAPPAfrica
#KickBigPollutersOut
Apr 9, 2022 9 tweets 6 min read
As French citizens get ready to vote this weekend, with polls indicating a tighter-than-expected race, it’s timely to revisit the ongoing 🇫🇷 Presidency of the EU Council #PFUE, Macron’s record, and the toxic background of his far-right opponent...

👀🧵👇 Image #UndertheInfluence written w/ @transnationales showed how #PFUE was prepared in collaboration w/ 🇫🇷 corporate sector & has policy agenda reflecting business demands.

Privileged access, revolving doors, corporate sponsorship helped give industry upper hand
tinyurl.com/282r8d73
Mar 30, 2022 14 tweets 7 min read
Most lobby firms won't touch the #Kremlin w/ a bargepole NOW, but for decades the EU's weak rules have allowed #Putin 's hired 🔫s to #lobby in Brussels with 0 ethical concerns and near-0 reporting requirements. Here's a 🧵👇

Follow us on instagram for+: instagram.com/corporateeurop… Ironic table about the EU Transparency Register Dodgy Dictat 2/14
In 2006 sister @Omnicom PR firms GPlus (🇪🇺) & @KetchumPR (🇺🇸) won a multimillion 💰💰 contract to rep for the #Kremlin (& @GazpromEN in 2007)

Ketchum helped #Putin get named Time's Person of the Year & placed an eyebrow raising op-ed by him on Syria in the @nytimes . Vadimir Putin in the cover of Time Magazine, as the person o
Mar 21, 2022 9 tweets 8 min read
⛔Toxic #Pesticides alert!⛔
+50 representants of org. signed an open letter demanding @EU_Commission that the #SUD reform is ambitious enough & contains strong legally binding use reduction targets, ensuring that farmers r supported in the transition
👀👉corporateeurope.org/sites/default/… Other demands include:
- Not postponing the much-needed reform of #SUD
- Making sure that all EU food&feed safety standards r upheld
- @EU_Commission stands by its commitment 2 #F2F & Biodiversity Strategies,transitioning away from current model & its reliance on external inputs
Mar 19, 2022 8 tweets 6 min read
Got 5 min free this weekend?
Here are some reading suggestions:

euobserver.com/climate/154540
"With war raging, a push to roll back green farming", by @Sanchelen at @euobs socialeurope.eu/ukraine-underl…

"Ukraine underlines urgency of EU green food goals", bu
Isabel Paliotta and @CeliaNysss at @socialeurope
Jan 2, 2022 12 tweets 7 min read
We are already feeling the impacts of the climate emergency, with record-breaking storms, floods, droughts and fires. Yet, lobbyists for #bigpolluters continue to participate in climate talks & decision-making processes.
Here's an overview of CEO's climate reports from last year: 1️⃣ The outcome of COP26 spells disaster for people and the planet, in particular for the global South. Rejected by the climate justice movement, the final text mirrors the agenda of rich developed countries and their oil and gas industries.
corporateeurope.org/en/2021/11/big…
#ClimateAction
Jan 2, 2022 7 tweets 4 min read
Climate urgency, false solutions, hydrogen, energy charter treaty... does the #ClimateCrisis interest you but you don't have time to read about it? Here's a selection of 6 episodes of our #podcast EU Watchdog Radio, dedicated to climate! 1️⃣ What happened at #COP26 ? What expectations did the #ClimateJustice movement have and what were the conclusions?

corporateeurope.org/en/2021/11/cop…
Dec 30, 2021 9 tweets 3 min read
☠️Did you know that toxic pesticides banned in the EU are still being produced there, and exported to other parts of the world?
Here's 6 times CEO exposed the agribusiness industry and lobbying in 2021: 1️⃣Stop the Toxic Trade: the tragic tale of toxic pesticides, international trade and EU Green Deal promises. A video featuring Bayer, BASF, Syngenta and Corteva, (un)naturally...
corporateeurope.org/en/2021/10/sto…
Jan 29, 2021 6 tweets 3 min read
The contract between Astrazeneca and the European Commission is finally published - this is an important victory for MEPs and civil society that insisted on #transparency! #thread
ec.europa.eu/commission/pre… Back in September 2020 already, we had filed a FOI request that had been denied by the European Commission. They even claimed there was no overriding public interest in the disclosure of the document!
May 15, 2019 16 tweets 9 min read
Today we're publishing an investigation into 10+ authoritarian right-wing parties across Europe. What we've they found:

Cohorts of millionaire backers. Personal enrichment. Fraud investigations. Multi-million loans from Russia. And much more. corporateeurope.org/en/Authoritari… Thread 👇 Authoritarian right-wing parties often brand themselves as anti-elite, anti-establishment. They say they defend ordinary people. But behind their claims we found ties to big business, corruption scandals, enabling tax avoidance and networks of dark money: corporateeurope.org/en/Authoritari…