Open letter to President Charles Michel, European Council

Publication date: 
Thursday, November 28, 2019

As Charles Michel gets ready to take office as President of the European Council, ALTER-EU and other civil society organisations demand a tough approach to the rule of law, corporate capture, lobby transparency, and ethics.

Document types: 
 

We asked the candidates for the EU’s top job how they would fight the corporate capture of our democracy. How do they score?

In Brussels, the political heart of the European Union, extreme corporate influence often distorts the political process, either blocking progress where it is sorely needed or leading to policies that are too weak or do not serve people’s needs. Their many tools for influence include big lobbying budgets, threats to leverage the economy (via layoffs, offshoring, or refusal to invest), privileged access to policy-makers and public officials, a blurred line between the private sector and public office thanks to the ever-revolving door.

LSI - Episode 7 - Our man in Brussels

Why is it that the US has been able to legally sanction political fixer Paul Manafort for failure to disclose details of his lobbying for the Kremlin-backed Ukrainian Viktor Yanukovych government, while in the European Union – where he also operated a multi-million euro lobbying operation for the same regime – there are no consequences whatsoever?

The contrast with the US brings into sharp focus the lack of legally binding power and enforcement in the EU's lobbying register.

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