Stop corporate capture

Stop corporate caputre

Corporate capture, or corporate takeover, occurs when a policy issue, agenda or new legislation is influenced in the extreme, often from the beginning and on an ongoing basis, by corporate interests. Corporate capture is extreme influence and while it does not happen on all EU policies and laws, the risk of corporate capture at the EU level can be high. The threat of corporate capture comes from the tactics which corporate lobbyists and business elites rely on to promote their agenda. These include: proffering corporate-dominated ‘advice’ or ‘expertise’ throughout the policy-making process; the smooth movement of staff, via the revolving door, to and from public institutions and big business; the privileged access of business interests to top decision-makers and officials responsible for handling key dossiers; the informal links which exist between political and corporate elites, including being members of the same political party; the setting-up of front groups; the funding of apparently ‘independent’ research; and many other tools and tactics which can all contribute to corporate capture.

There is also a significant risk of corporate capture occuring at the national level too and it is vital that civil society works together to lower the risk and combat it.

Action in a number of different areas would be needed to prevent corporate capture, and different combinations of actions will be needed for different contexts. Some of the positive policy actions, safeguards and alternatives which ALTER-EU supports are listed here:

  • A clear commitment by politicians and officials that they will serve the public interest and not corporate interests. Logically, this commitment should then be reflected in how they interact with stakeholders and in the policies and legislation produced   

  • Full lobby transparency which requires a legally-binding lobby register and proactive transparency of all lobby meetings held by politicians and officials, alongside tough rules for lobbyists to prevent unethical lobbying

  • Comprehensive freedom of information rules which enable outsiders to follow the policy-making process in a detailed way, and to assess how a proposal is being influenced

  • Robust ethics rules for politicians and officials to prevent conflicts of interest, to govern financial interests, second jobs, revolving doors, receiving gifts and hospitality,and other areas

  • Getting corporate money out of politics. Politicians, officials and political parties should not receive corporate funding and there should be strict limits on the size of political donations from individuals

  • Full transparency of the funding sources of lobby actors, including NGOs, but also think tanks (which often masquerade as independent but receive significant corporate donations), front groups, and trade associations, as well as full transparency on the lobby clients of law firms and lobby consultancies   

  • Truly open consultation processes which proactively reach out to civil society and local communities and which could be accompanied by meetings and hearings to explain policy proposals and to allow indepth discussion. In the long term, rolling back undue industry influence requires a broader democratisation that empowers the engagement of EU citizens’ groups in decision making

  • Overhaul of how advice and expertise is provided during the policy-making process, to minimise the risk that those with a financial stake in an issue are dominant.

 

 

 

Letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

Publication date: 
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Author: 
ALTER-EU steering committee

ALTER-EU's steering committee writes to the new President of the Commission to set out our agenda for reform on transparency, corporate capature, and Fossil Free Politics.

Document types: 
 

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.

Extreme influence of big business threatens citizens’ rights in Europe

Publication date: 
Monday, September 24, 2018
Press release issued by: 
The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU)

Excessive corporate influence over policy-making remains a serious threat to the public interest across Europe and at the EU level, warns a new report published today by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation in the EU (ALTER-EU).

 

Corporate capture in Europe - When big business dominates policy-making and threatens our right

Publication date: 
Monday, September 24, 2018
Author: 
ALTER-EU

This report examines the extreme and undue influence of big business on  European Union (EU) and member state decision-making processes

Download full document as pdf: 
Document types: 
 

Corporate capture in Europe - When big business dominates policy-making and threatens our right

"Corporate capture in Europe" examines the extreme and undue influence of big business on European Union (EU) and member state decision-making processes. It has been produced by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) as a response to the distortions we witness in policy and law making at EU-level and across a member states.
Publication date: 
Monday, September 24, 2018

Pages

A reply from the Commission and a new letter to Vice-President Jourová

Last December, the ALTER-EU Steering Committee sent a letter to the (then) newly sworn in President of the Commission to suggest  reforms to improve transparency, prevent corporate capture and make politics fossil free. We finally received a reply from Ms Tatjana Verrier, a director at the European Commission’s Secretariat-General.

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.

#TeamJunckerEU: first-half 'highlights'

Following our launch of the ALTER-EU football cards revealing the Juncker Commissioners with the worst levels of corporate bias in terms of their lobby meetings, we have presented the week's social media activity in this Storify story.

 

What happened during #EUIndustryDay

Last Tuesday the European Commission hosted what it called the first #EUIndustryDay ever. But at ALTER-EU we see it as part of the excessive intimacy between the Commission and big business, which make every day at the Commission #EUIndustryDay.

Subscribe to Stop corporate capture