EU Watchdog Radio

Listen to our new podcast episode, where Nina Holland talks about the intense lobby battle that the biotech industry has been waging to get its new generation of genetic modification techniques excluded from European GMO regulations. GMO stands for genetically modified organisms. This will mean that crops or wild plants made by using this new generation of genetic modification techniques, will no longer be subject to safety checks, monitoring or consumer labelling.The underlying key word for today's episode is deregulation, and that is a complicated word because it can sound interesting, like it can sound that it will allow people or things to, I don't know, to go about their lives more easily, not so burdened by bureaucracy. However, what deregulation here actually refers to is the scrapping of rules to protect health and the environment. It is an argument used by the industry whenever they don't want to be supervised and their products to be, well, regulated and maybe even labelled to tell consumers how they were produced, as is the case with GMOs.

Last week, Brussels went reeling under another corruption scandal! This time it's Chinese big tech giant Huawei whose offices just behind the European Parliament have been raided - along with those of 15 former and current MEPs from the EPP and S&D groups. Huawei is, according to the Belgian prosecutors, being investigated for ”active corruption within the European Parliament," including "remuneration for taking political positions, excessive gifts like food and travel expenses and regular invitations to football matches ... with a view to promoting purely private commercial interests in the context of political decisions”. The research was done by Follow the Money, Le Soir and Knack and the police raided 21 addresses in Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia and in Portugal and arrested several people. But while all eyes are on Huawei and China, we at CEO want to highlight a deeper, systemic scandal that was there in Qatargate and is here now: and that is the longstanding failure of the European institutions to properly defend democracy from influence operations. There's ongoing and systemic failures of lobby monitoring, transparency, and ethics enforcement (including regarding MEP gifts and conflicts of interest). The EU needs to consolidate and speed up implementation of the ethics body to set up common ethical standards across EU institutions.In this episode, Bram Vranken, campaigner and reseracher at CEO will discuss a report he published in January and which focuses on the standard setting process of the AI act. He uncovered that many of the world's major tech corporations - among them Huawei - are deeply involved in creating permissive, light-weight standards that risk hollowing out the EU's AI Act. In short, in it Bram shows that with little to no transparency, private standard-setting organisations are writing rules that have legal status in the EU. Independent experts and civil society are out-numbered, under-funded, and struggling in the face of the corporate dominance.

The EU's financial system operates in the shadows, with institutions like the European Investment Bank (EIB) wielding immense financial power, but who actually benefits? In the latest episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we sit down with Yanis Varoufakis - former Greek Finance Minister, Member of the Greek Parliament, and relentless critic of financial elites - to dissect the EU's economic machinery.From the European Investment Bank's role in fueling corporate capture to the EU's relentless push for competitiveness at the expense of social and environmental justice, we dig into the flaws of a system designed to benefit the few. In an exchange with Alexandra Gerasimcikova, Varoufakis unpacks the implications of Europe's lack of political will to mobilise large scale public funds to build a green economy, prospects for Europe to compete with global actors in the field of artificial intelligence, the dangers of Europe's growing military spending, and what bold changes are needed to shift power back to the people.Tune in for an unfiltered conversation that exposes the reality behind EU finance.

What does a lipstick, a non-stick frying pan and Scotchgard have in common? They all contain PFAS, a.k.a., forever chemicals! In this episode, Vicky Cann, campaigner and researcher at CEO, explains how her huge report "Chemical reaction - Inside the corporate fight against the EU's PFAS restriction" came to be and what were the most shocking results she unveiled. It can be read here

In this last episode of EU watchdog radio of 2024 we dive into the topic of the global power of the Big Meat lobby and how two dozen ultra rich companies dominate the political and policy agenda including at the FAO. We talk to professor Paul Behrens, climate expert at Oxford university and Caitlin Smith, senior campaigner at Changing Markets Foundation, about the report The new merchants of doubt. And don't worry, we do not want to turn you into a vegan or vegetarian (would be healthy for you); but the bottom line is: we should eat way less meat in the rich parts of the world and give a little ecological space to the world's poorer regions.

On Monday 28 October, South Africa submitted a detailed memorial against Israel to the International Court of Justice, seeking to establish that Israel's military actions in Gaza amount to genoc1de.  Unsurprisingly, it was South Africa, a country from the Global South with a past marked by colonisation and brutal apartheid, that stood up against Israel. South Africa was supported by countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Namibia, the Maldives, Malaysia... but what about the EU? In this episode speak about the EU's complicity in the genoc1de in Gaza and the role of the arms industry.

After pressuring Azerbaijan to up gas production for export, the EU is using COP29 to greenwash the fossil fuel and its own climate image. In this episode we talk to Pascoe Sabido, campaigner and researcher at CEO, about his analyse the EU's hypocrisy as its climate goals and upholding human rights are overtaken by energy security demands and greenwashing.

With the launch of the so-called “Investment Commission,” a worrisome agenda takes shape: prioritising supply chains and deregulation while neglecting vital public investment. In an era of renewed austerity, private profit reigns supreme, overshadowing the funds needed for a just transformation and climate goals. Chiara Casati and Frank Vanaerschot dig into the Draghi report, EIB updates, and Commission hearings. Brace yourselves for a “Commission for Investors.”

Double deregulation, competitiveness checks, rule of law or the omnibus law, it can all sound like technocratic gibberish, but they are all pieces of the downward spiral in social standards that are in immediate risk. But this social dumping is not the only challenge ahead, the same applies to environmental protection. This episode takes us beyond these unpronounceable words to discuss what is really at stake and what civil society should do about it. Welcome to a brand new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, where Joana Louçã talks to Kenneth Haar and Olivier Hoedeman about what we already know of the plans the European Commission has for the coming five years.

As it prepares to usher in a new era of austerity, the EU is rife with declarations of increased militarisation, coupled with measures to significantly increase European arms spending and strengthen the Union's military capabilities. In this episode, Laëtitia Sédou of ENAAT looks at the impact of skyrocketing military spending, the powerful influence of arms industry lobbying and the worrying diversion of funds at the expense of tackling the climate crisis and supporting social programmes. 

Hi, and welcome to the new season of EU Watchdog Radio, a podcast by Counter Balance and Corporate Europe Observatory. We changed the podcast a bit! Stay tuned for the second season of EU Watchdog Radio!

During the current and almost over EU legislature, the rise of far-right forces has come hand in hand with the stigmatisation, harassment, and violence against women and LGBTQI+ people.In this episode, Corporate Europe Observatory researcher and campaigner Kenneth Haar unveils the link between ultraconservative US foundations and right-wing forces across Europe. In the crosshairs outstands the Alliance Defending Freedom - a Christian right-wing organisation that, during the years, has worked hard to establish a transatlantic conservative network to roll back Sexual Reproductive Health Rights and LGBTQI+ rights.

In a milestone win for civil society, the EU will withdraw from the climate-wrecking Energy Charter Treaty (or ECT). The ECT was designed in the 1990s to favour industry's interests, and was a powerful weapon to obstruct the kind of phaseout of fossil fuels needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. It should never have existed in the first place.In this episode of EU Watchdog Radio, Joana Louçã talks to Pia Eberhardt, former campaigner and researcher at CEO, and Lucía Bárcena, Project Coordinator at the  Transnational Institute, or TNI, to celebrate the decision of the EU to finally leave the Energy Charter Treaty.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

For the first time in seventeen years, the European Gas Conference was cancelled—or, at least, postponed. However, this did not stop CEO from travelling all the way to Vienna to meet with climate activists and campaigners at the People's Summit, the counter-summit of the Gas Conference.This episode was recorded live in the capital city of Austria. Marcella Via spoke with CEO's researchers and campaigners Pascoe Sabido and Belén Balayá about their views on the People's Summit and the relevance of the work of the Fossil Free Politics coalition in this framework.You will also hear the voices of the front line. During the People's Summit, we've asked our allies from Corpus Christi, Texas, and Don't Gas Africa to send a message to the organisers of the European Gas Conference. We closed the episode sending our special message to the polluters as well. Tune in, and enjoy the listening! WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

Amazon is a frequent visitor to the EU Parliament. In January alone, it had nine meetings with MEPs. But when it refused to appear before the Employment Committee on a hearing on crucial issues concerning working conditions within its warehouses, it made MEPs from all party groups extremelly angry, and rightly so. On 5 February, MEPs on the European Parliament's Employment Committee sent an official letter to Roberta Metsola, the European Parliament President, urging the withdrawal of lobbying badges from the tech giant's representatives, effectively barring them from the Parliament's corridors. This week, more than 30 civil society groups and trade unions wrote to her backing up the MEPs' demand. It's time to ban Amazon lobbyists from the European Parliament. In this episode, Joana Louçã talks to CEO's campaigner and researcher Bram Vranken about this case.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

Another year, another COP. As the UN climate talks concluded in Dubai, for the first time ever a “transition away from fossil fuels” has been mentioned in the final text, but calling for a win would be a clear overstatement. The text has the oily fingerprints of the fossil fuel lobby all over it. The reality is COP28 is more likely to facilitate a fossil fuel frenzy by cementing false solutions in the text: exactly what the army of lobbyists ordered.Listen to our new podcast episode of EU Watchdog Radio, where Joana Louçã talks to CEO's climate campaigner and researcher Pascoe Sabido.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

It's one year since the Qatargate corruption scandal exploded across the EU institutions and a good time to review if and how things have changed in the Brussels Bubble. In this episode, Joana Louçã talks to Corporate Europe Observatory's researchers Olivier Hoedeman and Vicky Cann.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

As the European Commission's current mandate draws to a close, some Commissioner's are contemplating their next moves. One such politician is current Vice President Margrethe Vestager, who is campaigning to become the next president of the European Investment Bank (EIB). She is one of five potential candidates who will take over from current EIB president Werner Hoyer at the end of this year, with the successor to be chosen in the coming months.The EIB is the largest multilateral development bank in the world, and plays a crucial role in the various investment programmes being implemented by the EU. However, it prioritises financing large companies and huge private banks for environmental and social quick fixes rather than projects which would instigate long lasting social and environmental improvements in Europe.This is happening at a time when European social fabric and the EU's political legitimacy is eroding. Recent riots in France have demonstrated what can happen when entire communities, combined with racism and police brutality, are structurally deprived of their basic human needs.In episode 46 of EU Watchdog Radio, we speak with Frank Vanaerachot, Director of EU public finance watchdog Counter Balance. Frank explains how the EIB could help build quality, affordable housing, healthcare, education and other public services across Europe, how the bank may not be living up to its self-created ‘EU Climate Bank' branding and how it can take more risks to finance socially beneficial projects.

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio Hans van Scharen talks to UN rapporteur on the right to Food Michael Fakhri and Political scientist Yiorgos Vassalos. They discuss rising food prices and hunger, the link with financial markets and the lack of political will to curb the influence of financial speculation with food commodities, which contribute to excessive food prices and thus hunger.   This podcast is a follow-up of episode 43 in which Fakhri explained how hunger is not an issue of sufficient production but of bad policies and political failure. An example of this is food speculation which could be curbed by policy measures, but is not. In this episode Fakhri explains the role of international markets, where opaque trading in financial products is linked to for example energy and food commodities and price hikes. This trading in financial products often has nothing to do with the real world of food, but has a deep impact on the lives of real people. Fakhri points out that the huge price increases of food after the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent calls by right wing politicians and agrobusiness to stop the Green Deal, had nothing to do with shortage of grain, as Ukraine stands for ‘only' one percent of global production; But soon after the start of the war, global prices rose  with 70%. For countries and societies such huge price hikes automatically mean hunger.  The United Nations just published an alarming report, revealing catastrophic hunger numbers in 2022:  735 million people face chronic undernourishment, one third of humanity lives in moderate or severe food insecurity, a healthy diet is now unaffordable for almost half the world's population, there are 122 million more people hungry now than pre-Covid.The existing European legislation called ‘Markets in Financial Instruments Directive' (MiFiD) could have tamed ‘casino capitalism' and curbed food speculation, but the reforms delivered very little… Political scientists Yiorgos Vasalos researched for years the power of the financial sector and showed how the political will (which did exist 15 years ago) for reforming  EU regulation to tame wild financial markets -which created the almost meltdown of the worlds financial system in 2008 - has slowly but surely evaporated during the past decade. Just a few weeks ago there was an EU agreement on the latest reform of MiFiD. But after months of intense negotiations between the 3 EU institutions , unfortunately for the world's hungry, this reform again will deliver nothing to stop food speculation. Several policy aspects that could be effective to limit excessive food speculation,  will be reviewed only in 2024 and 2025… WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In this new episode of the podcast EU Watchdog Radio, Joana Louçã talks to economist and trade unionist Frank Ey, and to Olivier Hoedeman and Moritz Neujeffski, co-authors of CEO's latest report: 30 Years of EU Single Market: Time to remove the obstacles to social-ecological transformation.This year marks the 30th anniversary of the creation of EU's Single Market, and to mark it, we have just launched a new report (and a board game!) showing how corporate interests have used Single Market rules to obstruct progressive social and environmental policies and regulations that might harm their profits.We have invited the co-authors of the report Olivier Hoedeman and Moritz Neujeffski, as well as Frank Ey, who works at the EU & International Department of the Austrian Chamber of Labour and is a lecturer at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, to talk about the report and discuss its key findings.If the European Union is to protect public services and take the climate crisis seriously, it will need to turn its back on neoliberalism and take steps to modernise Single Market governance so that the national and local measures needed for a just ecological transition are safeguarded. Listen to our podcast to find out what measures we suggest should be taken.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

This is the 43d episode of EU Watchdog Radio where we talk all things food security, food systems and the (often political) violence that is omni-present around the world when it comes to one of our basic needs: food. It ‘s an important year for the global food security debate and the current heated EU political debate on this topic is not looking very promising. The biggest political family EPP declared officially that they want to end all greening policies for agriculture and basically all policies that protect or improve biodiversity. Now even president Macron, Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian prime minister Decroo defend this position as well. A position that was carefully prepared by powerful agrochemical corporations and their lobby agents. The main and very fake argument they use since the war in Ukraine started: we need to boost food production. To find out more about the issue of food security we talk to Special UN Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, who based in the US. Fakhri presented his report on Conflict and the right to Food to the Human Rights Council of UN General Assembly this Spring.   In that report, he gives an account of how different forms of violence in food systems harm people and generate the conditions that lead to human rights violations, like hunger. According to Fakhri food systems not only produce food but also amplify and produce violence that makes people more poor, vulnerable and marginalized. He repeats that “hunger and food insecurity always are a result of political failure” not an issue of production. Fakhri also talks about the increasing wealth and power of food-sector billionaires, and the alarming trend of global corporations taking over UN policy processes. During today's food crisis, transnational corporations in the agrifood sector are profiteering while people struggle and suffer as life gets harder.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

Corporate Europe Observatory's researcher Kat Ainger, Olivier Hoedeman and Hans van Scharen talk about the corruption scandal and its' consequences.This is the 42nd episode of EU Watchdog Radio where we talk all things Qatargate. What the EPP is plotting against civil society, what the problems are with the current EU transparency register and what better examples are used in other countries. CEO has for almost a decade now been looking into human rights abusers hiring consultants and repressive regimes lobbying the EU using think tanks, front groups, and third party consultants, and we discuss some of the more scandalous case studies we have discovered in the past. Full lobby transparency isn't a magic wand, but it does help us to understand what the people employing these lobbyists want, who they are influencing, who they are employing, how much they are paying, who they are targeting, what their issues are. That scrutiny is essential to tackle corporate capture. WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In our brand new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we talk to MEP Paul Tang and to CEO's Bram Vranken about the new website LobbyLeaks.eu.Welcome to the 41st episode of EU Watchdog Radio where we talk with Dutch MEP Paul Tang and to CEO's Big Tech researcher Bram Vranken on the website LobbyLeaks.eu.LobbyLeaks.eu has just been launched by CEO and Lobby Control, with the support of several cross-party MEPs and it is a new hotline for anonymous tip-offs about lobbying, specifically focused on issues around Big Tech.Through LobbyLeaks.eu we expect to expose lobbying campaigns and tactics which either breach the EU transparency's register code of conduct, or are considered to be an unregulated form of lobbying. There is a guarantee of complete anonymity for all tip-offs.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

The EU Global Gateway has been pitched as the EU's response to the economic, climate and energy crises engulfing the planet. Yet over a year after the European Commission launched the Gateway, it is still shrouded in secrecy. It is unclear if any new money is actually being made available for international development through the Gateway, or whether the strategy is mainly a PR exercise. Worse still, the Gateway may serve as an excuse to transfer development resources over to the private sector, or using development funds to further Europe's geopolitical goals rather than fight poverty.On this episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we speak with Farwa Sial from the European Network on Debt and Development about the flaws of the Gateway strategy and how they can be rectified. We also speak with a representative from a community in Nepal who have been adversely affected by an infrastructure project financed by the European Investment Bank - one of the institutions responsible for rolling out the Gateway.

podcast 37 on Launch of Lobbyfacts with Lucy and Vicky Cann 

Welcome to a new summer episode of EU Watchdog Radio. In this episode we will very exceptionally…talk about ourselves, about CEO as a lobby watchdog and dive into how it all started 25 years ago.This year CEO celebrates it's 25th anniversary albeit in a rather modest way, since at the start of this year the pandemic was still raging, and soon after a war started on the European continent with a subsequent energy- and food crisis. Not exactly a very festive momentum.But while discussing the history of CEO , we automatically also discuss parts of the political and economical history of the European Union as we know it today. And we sincerely hope that by listening to co-founders of and still researchers with CEO, Olivier Hoedeman and Belen Balanya,  who explain how it all began back in Amsterdam, you'll understand why the EU functions today is it does.Get ready for a trip down memory lane!This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In this episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we talk with Olivier Hoedeman, campaigner and researcher at CEO, and Bruno Maia, a doctor and activist.We discuss with Olivier how the EU approached the negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies, what we can get from the documents CEO requested access to, and what was the TRIPS waiver agreed with the World Trade Organisation.Bruno, on the other hand, addressed some of the concepts around vaccines. What are patents and do all vaccines have them? Are there examples with Big Pharma where the story is different? Are all vaccines developed in the private sector, and how are new molecules are developed?This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In the latest episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we discuss how EU public finance institutions like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) should approach the rebuilding of Ukraine after the war comes to an end.Russia's hostile invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves across Europe and beyond. The war has forced over 6.8 million people to flee the country, with millions more internally displaced.The damage done to Ukraine's infrastructure has been colossal. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that rebuilding the country would cost over half a trillion dollars. Zelensky has also said that 95 percent of buildings in the city of Mariupol had been destroyed, while the mayor of the recently liberated city of Kharkiv said that 1 in 4 homes in the city were now uninhabitable.European public finance institutions have already provided immediate assistance to Ukraine. The EBRD committed an initial €2 billion to help both within Ukraine and neighbouring countries who have taken in refugees. The European Investment Bank also approved an initial €668 million of assistance at the beginning of the conflict, as well as a €4 billion credit line to support EU states hosting people who have fled the country.Given the scale of the reconstruction needed, this is probably just the start. The EBRD in particular has been heavily involved in investing in Ukraine since the country joined the bank in 1992. Yet its investments have primarily favoured businesses, with over 40 percent of its total support going to the private sector. This is despite many projects having hugely negative social and environmental effects. For instance, Ukrainian agribusinesses giant Myronivsky Hliboproduct Pjsc has received €275 million from the EBRD since 2010. The company is associated with intimidation of communities who live near a poultry farm and has also been criticised for polluting local water sources with excessive amounts of nitrate.In this episode, we speak with Fidanka Bacheva-McGrath, a campaigner with CEE Bankwatch Network. We discuss the EBRD's operations in Ukraine before the war, including the bank's support for controversial projects as well as nuclear energy.We cover what lessons the bank can learn from these past mistakes, and how they may inform future reconstruction efforts. Finally, we talk about the EBRD's relationship with Russia, and what must change after the country's hostile invasion of Ukraine.This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we discuss some fascinating historical events that helps to understand why the European Union is functions the way it does, and why we have not made enough progress to tackle climate change, despite al the scientific knowledge we have accumulated since at least 1972.  This episode is published on the 9th of May for a reason: this is Europe Day and thus we publish the first of several episodes to celebrate the 25th anniversary of CEO. As the European ‘powers that be' are today celebrating Europe Day, we thought we also could use our anniversary to look back. However, instead of talking about the year 1950 when the ‘Schuman Declaration' was signed, we will focus on 1972; A year that is at least as significant because in that year the Club of Rome published its famous report ‘Limits to Growth'. It sent shockwaves throughout the world and remains highly relevant today. In this episode we will discuss with historian, scholar and writer, Geert Buelens, connected to the university of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Buelens recently published a new, fascinating  book titled translated from Dutch, 'What we already knew back then' the forgotten history of 1972'. That year a unique and surprising consensus among business leaders, academics and politicians arose on the fact that eternal economic growth and population growth would make the Earth's ecosystems crash at some point.  This consensus did not last very long and Buelens tells us why that is the case. What was the role played by the American lobby group the Business Roundtable, also created in 1972, and later the influence of 'the neoliberal revolution'? In this episode we also talk to CEO-researcher and co-founder Olivier Hoedeman about the creation of the European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT) in 1981 – the European version of the US Business Roundtable, Olivier talks about the crucial yet largely unknown role it played and still very actively plays to keep corporate, private interests at the core of EU-policies, even in times of climate urgency.  It's getting more clear by the day why we need Fossil Free Politics.  This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like the lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech,  agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy&climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

In this episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we talk about the EU's dependency on gas, what energy poverty is and in what way it is linked to the Ukraine war. We also discuss the energy alternatives the EU is considering, and what really needs to happen.Europe is facing a crisis of the cost of living and the invasion of Ukraine has exposed its dependency on Russian oil and gas.  As the EU continues to import them, it is directly funding Putin's war. According to Beyond Coal, in March  alone Europe paid 20 billion euros to Russia for fossil fuels. In today's episode, we asked campaigners and researchers Martha Myers, at Friends of the Earth Europe, and Pascoe Sabido, at CEO, why the EU is stuck in the hands of the gas lobby and how is energy poverty linked to the war in Ukraine.This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In the latest episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we discuss the linkages between the Ukraine war , the food crisis and subsequent ‘the policy fall-out'.  Agrobusiness lobbies and their political allies abuse the crisis to derail and delay the EU's Farm to Fork Strategy.A toxic lobby amplified by conservative politicians was very quick to start, calling for increased food production due to the Ukraine war. And thus they called for the need of more fertilisers and pesticides as they wrongfully think that this is the only way the produce enough healthy food, whereas in fact their lobby is just about defending a billion Euro agrochemical business model, at the expense of exosystems, farmers and the health of people alike. In this episode, Nina Holland, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) explains the interlinkages between her new report 'A loud lobby for a silent spring: the pesticide industry's toxic lobbying tactics against Farm to Fork' and the politiucal opportunism abusing the horrible war in Ukraine. Over a week ago, CEO exposed the immense and well-resourced lobby campaign against the EU Farm to Fork Strategy by pesticide lobby group CropLife Europe and their allies. On the same day, Agriculture commissioner Wojciechowski made statements implying that the Commission may be bowing to industry pressure and delay new pesticide rules. This anti-Farm to Fork lobby will certainly use this extra time to try and further derail the process. Last week many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) deeply regretted that the much needed revision of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD) is being postponed and asked the European Commission to officially present a new publication date within the briefest of delays. The European Commission was expected to publish the revision on March 23, setting the path for the legal implementation of the Farm to Fork. EU law obliges Member States to reduce the use of pesticides since 2009, but more than a decade later, they still argue against it and attack any EU initiative that would finally get them to respect both the law and the science.We also talk to Martin Derminne, expert of Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) who explains why the pesticide law is not being respected by the member states; Derminne also explains that the 50 % pesticide reduction target that is now being postponed is in reality a non-issue because the farmers that already apply the EU-law from 2009 (SUD) and thus use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) already reduced their use of chemicals with 80 to 90%. A study shows for example that, in France, arable farmers could reduce their pesticide use by 30% without reducing their yield at all.  This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In the latest episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we discuss the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), a secretive €25 billion fund created by the European Investment Bank (EIB), ostensibly to help European businesses in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.The fund aims to use the €25 billion invested by the EIB to inject  €200 billion into the European economy. Yet while this may sound good in principle, systemic problems abound with the EGF.Firstly, the EGF itself is so mired in secrecy that it is difficult to assess its actual impact. From who makes the decisions to who finally benefits, substantial amounts of public money are being disbursed with zero public scrutiny. Given how little information is publicly available on the EGF, even assessing whether the fund makes a difference or not to the European economy is problematic. It's possible that similar results could have been achieved without the use of public money. Only time will tell if the EGF is a hidden bailout for the financial sector, or if it creates economic breathing space for small businesses across Europe.Both the EIB and private banks hide behind corporate confidentiality to justify this lack of transparency and dodge public scrutiny. Yet the information they claim to be protecting to preserve corporate competition is often available on private databases which businesses can pay to access.This lack of transparency also could be hiding the fact that the EIB is providing large banks and investment funds with access to massive credit lines, guarantees and other complex financial instruments with few strings attached. This is despite the EGF being designed in theory to support small and medium sized businesses in Europe.The EGF is also being used to support risky financial engineering such as ‘asset back securities' - a financial technique partly implicated in the 2008 financial crisis. This has been done without real public debate or democratic scrutiny.We spoke to Counter Balance Director Xavier Sol to discuss the problems with the EGF in more detail.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech, agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we discuss France, French politics, the role that French President Emmanuel Macron wants to play in the EU and what vision he has for the future of Europe. Disclaimer: the French Presidency of the EU Council which started on 1 January promises a very corporate-driven future of Europe! An EU Presidency prepared in close collaboration with the French corporate sector which is setting a policy agenda that strongly reflects business demands. That was the verdict of Corporate Europe Observatory and Observatoire des multinationales in their new report “Under the influence: the distorted priorities of the French EU Council Presidency”, published in the run up to the start of the French Presidency on 1 January.The French Presidency will have a particular resonance both in France itself, coinciding as it does with President Macron's re-election campaign, and at the European level, with many critical pieces of legislation and policy on the line, including on climate, nuclear energy, digital technology, defence, tax, finance, health, corporate due diligence, and labour rights.But, the public interest looks to lose out where French multinationals could win. The French Government is set to promote its own vision for supporting powerful ‘champions' from among EU and especially French multinationals, no matter that these will not be very different from the overseas players that Macron criticises.Macron presented the agenda of his government's Presidency of the EU Council to the European Parliament in a plenary session in Strasbourg this week. A key word during his speech was ‘sovereignty', a buzzword in his recent speeches about Europe. The slogan of the French EU presidency, covering the first half of 2022, is "relance, puissance, appartenance" (revival, power, belonging). All three terms are variations of the concept of ‘sovereignty'.But what does Macron mean by this term, sovereignty,  and what implications does it have for EU citizens? And, by the way, what happened with the other famous three-word slogan connected to France: liberté, egalité fraternité? Or in other words what happened to French and  European democracy?To answer these questions we'll talk in this episode first to CEO researcher Vicky Cann and then Lora Verheecke, researcher for Observatorie des multinationales.This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the EU by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like Big Tech,  agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU citizen!

In this new episode we'll talk to two experts - Dimitri Eynikel, an expert of Doctors without Borders  and CEO-researcher Olivier Hoedeman-  on how the EU is dealing with the new phase of the pandemic, with a special focus on the still unresolved unequal access of large parts of the world to Covid-19 vaccines, new medicines and therapeutics. Experts have long warned that if the global population does not have access to vaccines, new variants of the virus will emerge and hit us back.The covid-19 pandemic is still raging in many parts of the world, And while most sensible Europeans are happy to be receiving a booster jab, in low and middle income countries most people can only dream of having access to such a vaccine. So far, at least 66 per cent of people living in rich G7 countries have had two vaccine doses; In Europe even 70,8% had at least one dose, while in Africa only 6%.The production of vaccines needs to be scaled up urgently, experts have been saying for many months; And many experts, scientists, hundreds of NGO's, top politicians and the Pope, have argued that an important hurdle for that upscaling are patents and intellectual property rights and the refusal by Big Pharma to share technology.This is why well over a year ago, India and South Africa called on the WTO to temporarily suspend part of an intellectual property Trade agreement known as TRIPS, which allows pharmaceutical corporations to monopolise medical knowledge. But the EU was and remains the most stubborn  opponent of the so called ‘TRIPS Waiver'. Despite political rethoric, the European Commission – the executive branch of the EU - not only has a very Eurocentric way of dealing with the pandemic, but also persists in complete secrecy on how it negotiates with powerful pharmaceutical companies. The truth is that the EU is de facto blocking the increase of production because it wants to protect the competitiveness of it's pharmaceutical sector by protecting it's patents. And allowing non- transparency on for example the price of medicines.   In the groundbreaking article “The inside story of the Pfizer vaccine: ‘a once-in-an-epoch windfall” The Financial Times recently described how Pfizer – which has 80% of the EU market – sidelined governments: “The vaccine has transformed Pfizer's political influence.  Since the vaccine's approval at the end of last year, Pfizer's decisions have helped shape the course of the pandemic. It has the power to set prices and to choose which country comes first in an opaque queueing system, including for the booster programmes that rich countries are now scrambling to accelerate. when it has come to medical solutions to the pandemic, governments have been almost completely dependent on private companies.”

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we take the temperature of the international Climate conference COP26,  that started this week in Glasgow. Activist Greta Thunberg is right by saying and sometime shouting the word ‘Greenwashing' all over Glasgow. While COP26 in Glasgow was branded by the UK government as the COP where the world should take historic decisions, it seems the UK government has been putting up a gigantic greenwashing PR -show. Government and climate policy by announcement. In this episode we talk to three CEO-researchers who have just before or during this COP26 published new and relevant research. Kenneth Haar has just published research on the capture by the financial sector of an important part of international climate policy. The Paris Climate Agreement states that financial flows should be “consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilient development”. The agenda and proposals on financial flows, have been steered and directed from A to Z  by the private financial sector. The mindblowing conclusion: COP26 is set to become the biggest finance greenwash event in historyWe will be also joined by CEO-researcher and campaigner Pascoe Sabido live from Glasgow.  In an earlier episode of this podcast Pascoe said about climate change policy: “when we see a huge market failure, what do we do? We turn to the same markets to solve the problem.” A few days before the start of COP26 Pascoe has analysed the net zero promises of big multinationals and demonstrated why these promises are empty. At the same time these promises form the core of COP26. This episode starts with CEO-researcher Belen Balanya, who explains the various lobby tricks that fossil fuel companies and their lobbyists use to keep in control of climate and energy policy. Like for example the revolving doors, where top officials and politicians move to go an work for fossil fuel companies.  And why it is so important to have fossil free politics. Who we areBoth CEO and Counter Balance raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more...You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we take a closer look at the European Green Deal (EGD) and in particular how it is being financed. Counter Balance released their latest report on October 20, 2021. In “The European Green Deal: Reclaiming Public Investments for a real Socio-ecological Transformation” Counter Balance shows that the financial basis of the EGD is undersized and wobbly at best.In this episode we talk to Xavier Sol, Director of Counter Balance about the main findings of the report.There are three main issues plaguing the financial basis of the EGD. The €1 trillion investment package that's supposed to finance the EGD - the so-called “Sustainable Europe Investment Plan” (SEIP) is merely a political announcement and does not reflect what the EU will actually invest. Most of the instruments under the SEIP are simply the continuation of already existing investment programmes, there is only limited new or fresh money under it.Then there is the strong bias in favour of the private and financial sector. The focus on bankable projects and leveraging private resources has come at the expense of playing a stronger role in furthering transformative policy orientations. The approach of turning projects into bankable ones ignores the fact that a majority of the needs for ecological transition will simply not be bankable and offer any return on investment. The sustainable finance agenda associated with the SEIP also risks to reinforce the financialisation of our economies, at the expense of the real economy.And thirdly, there are major challenges in terms of accountability and transparency. Looking at how the InvestEU programme and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will operate under the SEIP, it is clear that decisions about loans and various financial instruments are unlikely to be taken in a transparent, accountable and participatory manner. Corruption, fraud and misuse of funds are also a matter of concern that largely remain unaddressed.This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both CEO and Counter Balance raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more...You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we dive into the question on how the European governments are actually spending the billion and billions of EU recovery funds. We focus specifically on France, which is taking over the EU presidency as of 2022 (Under the influence | Corporate Europe Observatory) .The climate movements are preparing for the important climate summit which will take place in Glasgow, early November. All kinds of experts, like the scientists of the IPCC told us that we have ten years to curb  greenhouse gas emissions. And we should keep fossil fuels in the ground as much as possible.There are a lot of green and climate friendly speeches and commitments. But when you dig a bit deeper, it seems that billions of recovery funds are flowing into the bank-accounts of the fossil fuel industry or other sectors that are contributing to climate change. Despite their green rhetoric, the European commission and EU governments are allocating billions towards false solutions as hydrogen, the trojan horse for the gas industry, and the nuclear sector.In this episode we talk with Olivier Petitjean, researcher working for l'Observatoire des Multinationales in Paris. Together with other research organisations all over Europe, he published a first report (Hijacking the Recovery Through Hydrogen | Corporate Europe Observatory)  under the banner Recovery Watch, to monitor how all those European billions are being spent.Big corporations and their lobbyists are now cheering the so called solution for climate change, called hydrogen and a new generation of nuclear power plants. The French president Emmanuel Macron officially announced his support as the big plan for France, and is supported by at least ten eastern-European countries. So the move of the French president Macron to support nuclear and hydrogen was maybe somehow predictable but also bad news for a robust EU climate policy.  In January France will take over the Presidency of the EU Council for six months. Will Macron steer the EU in a more neo-liberal direction?This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we start with a Bang. This podcast deals with the question how the big digital corporations and platforms like Facebook, Google, Amazon and others try to influence European policy making to keep their business models intact.New research by CEO and the colleagues from the German association LobbyControl, shows the incredible lobby firepower of Big Tech. The new study ‘The Lobby network, Big Tech's web of influence in the EU'  provides a unique and detailed analysis of the lobbying power of tech companies at EU level. It maps the biggest players, their networks and countries of origin, and uncovers their lobby budgets and access to EU decision makers. The research also unveils how this lobbying power plays out in practice in the context of ongoing EU policy debates on the Digital Services legislative pack.In this episode Max Bank, a researcher and campaigner at LobbyControl, a non-profit association which advocates for transparency and democratic control, gives the details about the Lobby firepower.This lobby surge comes as the European institutions are now discussing more stringent regulations on tech companies via the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). CEO-researcher and campaigner Margarida Silva explains why everyone should be worried about this big Tech lobby surge and the democratic problems it entails.This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy&climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

In this special summer episode we'll bring you the true story on how the European Union has been dealing with the covid-19 pandemic so far and why the EU seems to have a deep love affair with Big Pharma. In two parts of this podcast several experts will explain that the European Commission – the executive branch of the EU - not only has a very eurocentric way of dealing with the pandemic, but also persists in complete secrecy on how it negotiates with powerful pharmaceutical companies. We are now July  2021, and the covid-19 pandemic is still raging in many parts of the world, in countries in Africa, in india, Indonesia and so on… And while many Europeans are happy to be able to go on holidays and again enjoy certain freedoms, thanks to the covid-19 vaccines, in low and middle income countries most people can only dream of having access to such a vaccine. “The vaccine must become a global common good”, said EC-president  Ursula von der Leyen in the spring of 2020. We now know those were empty words. The production of vaccines needs to be scaled up urgently, experts have been saying for many months; And many experts, scientists, hundreds of NGO's, top politicians and the Pope, have argued that an important hurdle for that upscaling are patents and intellectual property rights and the refusal by Big Pharma to share technology. The truth is that the EU is de facto blocking the increase of production because it wants to protect the competitiveness of it's pharmaceutical sector by protecting it's patents. And allowing non- transparency on for example the price of medicines.    In the first part of this episode we talk first with CEO-researcher Olivier Hoedeman on the total secrecy that still surrounds the EU negotiations and dealings with Big Pharma.  Then we listen to CEO-researcher Kenneth Haar, who has published several reports on the bizarre ways the European Commission and the European member states have been dealing with the issue of vaccine equity. 

In the second part of this episode we first talk with Dimitri Eynikel,  expert of Doctors without Borders  who explains why the proposals of the EU to counter or derail the proposal of South-Africa and India, are rather meaningless. Dimitri explains why the proposals of the EU to boost global production and access to vaccines and therapeutics will simply not work and might even take us backwards. And why in times of a pandemic this attitude of the European Union is “quite shameful”. Then we discuss with investigative journalist Priti Patnaik, based in Geneva, specialised in global health policy and editor of the Geneva Health Files.   This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy&climate, scientific research and much more…And EU Watchdog Radio is being noticed more and more! We appreciate each and every listener and the sharing of our episodes. The editorial team of Feedspot, a US based news and blog reader used by over 4 million users worldwide, selected this podcast as one of the TOP 25 European Union podcasts.You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen! 

In this new episode of this podcast we put spotlights on the European Union as an economical superpower and how the EU regulates - or not - corporate power. The European way of doing (geo)politics is often described as ‘soft power'. But the impact of European businesses in other parts of the world – as well as in the EU itself - is often not so soft; As corporate behaviour often leads to human rights violations and destruction of ecosystems. So how is the EU dealing with issues like environmental justice, social rights and corporate power in a time when globalisation is being reviewed critically? Because what big European corporations and multinationals are contributing to along their global values chains, is often in stark contrast with the so called ‘European values'. Think for example the connections of the meat industry and supermarkets with the destruction in the Amazon forest. Think people in Bangladesh, risking their lives in unsafe factories for the European textile industry. Or think farmers in Nigeria who basically lost their farmlands and livelihoods due to operations of fossil fuel company Shell.     In this episode we talk to Jill McArdle, Corporate accountability campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe; She explains what is going on behind the scenes with the announced European law that potentially could hold European companies accountable for what their sub-contractors are doing in Bangladesh, the Amazon or Nigeria. This law has great potential for victims of wrong doing by European companies abroad. She explains tactics and arguments of corporate lobbies against this new law; This corporate lobby was described in a recent report called “Off the Hook?” published by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) and Friends of the Earth Europe. The new EU law on due diligence is expected for October this year. We also listen to CEO-researcher Pia Eberhardt who uncovered another massive lobby campaign in a new report called “Conquering European courts”, which is about exactly the opposite: make the EU to propose new legislation, giving more and new legal powers to corporations, which they could use to undermine public interest regulations.  Analysing dozens of documents obtained through freedom of information requests, the report reveals how banks like German Commerzbank, lobby groups like the Association of Large French Companies, BusinessEurope as well as corporate lawyers and lobby consultancies are pushing for a new legal regime that would enable industry to bypass national courts when settling disputes with EU member states. Big business' key demand is a new EU court for corporations, as well as substantive rights, which could ultimately put governments off regulating in the public interest. This new legislative proposal is expected for November this year. This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy&climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

 In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we dive into the issue of plains, trains, cars and bicycles aka transport and why this is such a powerful issue in the context of climate change and healthy societies.Since the lockdown many plains stayed on the ground, which from a climate perspective is a good thing. The pandemic learned us that we need to change certain ways in which we live, travel and consume. While even governments and policymakers acknowledged this need, they pay out billions of euro to aviation companies via bailouts…And for example if we know that flying is extremely harmful for the climate why do we still get offers to fly very cheap from Brussels to for example Barcelona? Why is the same journey by train much more expensive and why are there still hardly any nighttrains? What about the need for a Railway Rennaissance?A month ago new research released by the European Environment Agency showed that rail is the greenest mode of transport and called for short-haul flights in Europe to be replaced by trains to help tackle the climate crisis.And if we know that more roads lead to more traffic jams, more air pollution and more health problems and casualties – already at 400.000 a year in Europe – why is the European Investment Bank still financing the construction of roads – even cutting through ancient forest, like with the A49 in Germany? This at a time where the EIB declared itself as Europe's Climate bank.In this podcast we 'll be asking these questions to Lorelei Limousin from Greenpeace and Clara Bourgin from Counter Balance and getting some clear cut answers. To give a hint: powerful lobbies from for example the car and aviation industry do play a role here…Both CEO and Counter Balance raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more...You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we dive into the covert lobby tactics used by the biotechnology industry to get a new generation of GMO's to be used in agriculture, deregulated in the EU. Why are agrochemical companies like Bayer and Corteva so against having European safety rules?  And why is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation financing this lobby-campaign?  A few decades ago some agrochemical companies started selling patented seeds created with genetic modification, for growing plants called GMO's. They are now trying to promote a next generation of GMO's using new genetic editing techniques like Crispr/Cas. But the companies do not want these to be called new GMO's because in Europe those have a bad reputation and track record. The first generation GMOs did not live up to the expectations that were created back then. CEO-researcher Nina Holland explains how she uncovered a number of dubious lobby tactics employed by the biotech industry to convince EU policymakers. The aim of this lobby campaign is a complete deregulation of new GMOs in Europe.  So basically they are trying hard to persuade European politicians to allow the commercialization of genome edited plants and animals without any safety checks, monitoring or labeling. In the same week IFOAM Organics Europe has sent an open letter on behalf of 162 organisations from all European countries to the European Commission to warn against this deregulation push.American journalist Stacy Malkan , co-founder and co-editor of the US based organisation US Right to know , to be found on the web via USRTK.org. Stacy started the Bill Gates Food Tracker and is investigating how this billionnaire filantropist is pushing an outdated agricultural and food model called the Green Revolution , mainly in Africa . It is an incredible story about how Gates succeeds in selling his ‘techno-fix dreams' around the world as solutions for climate change; Whereas if one looks critically to what Gates promotes in agriculture it is not a dream, but rather a dystopian vision. To quote from a recent publication of the Green group in the European parliament called: ‘Gene editing , myths and reality': “A form of emotional blackmail is being used to convince policymakers of the moral imperative to embrace new GM technologies. The promise is that these technologies will enable the development of crops that require less pesticides and are adapted to climate change. However, the same promises were also made for first-generation GM crops and proved false. New GM techniques are unlikely to succeed where “old GM” failed, because desirable characteristics  such as pest and disease resistance and adaptation to climatic changes are genetically complex traits that cannot be achieved by manipulating one or a few genes.”This podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…

This new episode of EU Watchdog Radio is dedicated to the Global Climate strike on Friday the 19th of March; Two experts talk about how the current proposed climate policies are too much oriented towards market based solutions and influenced by the same industry that created climate change: the fossil fuel companies.In the year 2021, we have started the last decade we have to take urgent climate action.  The scientists of the IPCC told us we have ten years to curb  greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore the European Union has declared climate policy the alpha and omega via it's so called Green Deal. The new US administration has declared more or less the same. And so many other governments around the world also claim to take the climate urgency serious.   So far so good?Flora Sonkin, Policy Research Officer on Financing for Development at Society for International Development (SID), explains why the strong focus on financialisation in climate policies is a very risky path to go. Sonkin argues that neoliberal policies have weakened states' capacities  to handle the first shocks of climate change.CEO-researcher and campaigner Pascoe Sabido explains why the fossil free politics campaign was launched end of 2019 and why getting fossil fuel out of decision making has become more urgent and needed as ever. As climate change is a big market failure, it is pretty crazy to turn to the same markets for climate solutions.Both CEO and Counter Balance raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we dive into one of the biggest examples of ‘cognitive dissonance' in recent history. Every (European) policymaker knows by now that fossil fuels should stay in the ground, but yet they keep defending the EU's membership of a treaty that defends fossil fuel investments: the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).We'll be talking with Pia Eberhardt , campaigner and expert on international trade from CEO, who explains the ins and outs of this strange creature and why she is campaigning to force the EU to withdraw from the ECT. In only one week almost a quarter of a million signed a petition to ask for this, which you can still sign here.Take action to end the climate-killing Energy Charter Treaty | Corporate Europe ObservatoryThe scientists of the IPCC told us we have ten years to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore the European Union has declared climate policy the alpha and omega via it's so called Green Deal. Also the new US administration and many other governments around the world claim to take the climate urgency very serious.Now, taking climate change serious basically means that to tackle this crisis we need to , as of today, start keeping fossil fuels in the ground as much as possible. Taking it serious means decentralising energy production and using renewables and energy saving. Taking it serious means that governments need to design policies that tackle climate change, not promote it.So knowing this: why is there still a global treaty designed by Europe that basically does the opposite: a treaty that punishes or threatens those governments, also European ones, that want to phase out fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy? Via this ECT governments that phase out coal, end gas production, or stop oil pipelines can be sued by corporations in private courts and be held liable for billions in damages.Early March will be the start of political negotiations on reforming the ECT; For Pia and other activists it is clear that the ECT is beyond repair and that EU governments and the European Commission should pull out of this climate killing treaty and stop its expansion to even more countries. Pia will be explaining the origins of the Energy Charter Treaty, how it undermines the clean energy transition and how it protects hundreds of billions of investments in Fossil infrastructure. Can countries get out of the ECT and what about a so called Zombie clause?Both CEO and Counter Balance raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more…You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

In this new episode we dive into the incredible story on how Fortress Europe is being constructed by a European agency called the ‘European Border and Coast Guard Agency' AKA Frontex, almost in the dark and without any democratic oversight. With billions of EU taxpayer's money and the help of dozens of lobbyists from defense, arms and surveillance technology industries, Frontex is creating a world that George Orwell would have found inspiring when writing his book ‘1984'.In the first weekend of February the website of CEO and German TV program ZDF Magazin Royal almost crashed. Reason? The publication of the Frontex Files. Three researchers - Myriam Douo, Luisa Izuzquiza and Margarida Silva - published the analysis of the relationship between the Frontex and a multitude of corporate interests, mostly companies from the Defence, Arms and surveillance technology sectors. The publication was called ‘Lobbying Fortress Europe - The making of a border-industrial complex.Based on over 130 documents covering meetings from 2017 to 2019, the research found an agency that is in constant and systematic contact with arms, surveillance and biometrics industry representatives. This while Frontex told the European Parliament a few years ago it never meets with lobbyists. The new research found that industry lobbyists are pushing a narrative where migrants are a security threat for which the solution is to spend more public money acquiring their equipment (from guns, drones, surveillance equipment to facial recognition tools).Many of these techno-fixes could have serious human rights consequences, not only for refugees but also for European citizens. That is certainly the case with biometrics technology, including facial recognition surveillance. Yet, human rights organisations or experts on fundamental rights are kept out of Frontex's discussions. The three researchers also found that the massive expansion of the budget and power of Frontex in just a few years has unfortunately not been matched by an increase in transparency, accountability, nor scrutiny. The LIBE Committee in the European Parliament very recently announced the creation of a working group to hold Frontex accountable.Both CEO and Counter Balance raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more...You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen! 

Pandemic, austerity, privatisation and the urgency of an honest debate on health care policy.In this first new episode of 2021, we dive into the topic that is unfortunately still on everyone's mind each and every day: the raging pandemic. Our main focus is why were /are health care systems in many countries under such pressure when dealing with Covid-19?  From hospitals to care homes, the outsourcing and privatisation of healthcare , in combination with various EU austerity policies, have significantly degraded EU member states' capacity to deal effectively with COVID-19, costing extra lives. And unfortunately this quite unhealthy tendency has been going on all over the world, hitting the poorest hardest.First, Olivier Hoedeman, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), talks about the recent research-report “When the market becomes deadly: How pressures towards privatisation of health and long-term care put Europe on a poor footing for a pandemic” . Our second guest is Aurore Guieu, researcher and campaigner at Oxfam Belgium. Oxfam has recently published a new report on the growing inequality called “The Inequality Virus”, showing that inequality is literally as deadly as COVID-19.Third guest is Leigh Haynes a PhD researcher in political science at Ghent University where her work focuses the influence social movements can have on health policy. Originally from Texas in the US), Leigh is also a health activist with  the People's Health Movement, advocating and organizing for the right to health around the world. She is involved in a European Citizen Initiative (ECI), called ‘No Profit on Pandemic',  seeking 1 million signatures by the end of the year.Both CEO and Counter Balance raise awareness on the importance of good governance in the European Union, by researching issues like lobbying of large and powerful industries, corporate capture of decision making, corruption, fraud, human rights violations in areas like agro-business, biotech & chemical companies, the financial sector & public investment banks, trade, energy & climate, scientific research and much more...You can find us on iTunes, Spotify & Buzzsprout. Stay tuned for more independent and in-depth information that concerns every EU-citizen!

Listen to CEO-researcher Belen Balanya who published a report on the 'Hydrogen Hype' and why this trojan horse of the gas industry is not a climate solution, making the EU Green Deal a grey deal.

‘Black rocking the European Green Deal' is the title of this fourteenth episode, in which CEO researcher Kenneth Haar and Jana Leutner researcher at Change Finance, discuss the Blackrock scandal. Together they published a report called “The BlackRock Model”, in which they uncover the scale of the blunder of the European Commission by granting a contract to BlackRock to give advice on ‘sustainable finance'.  On the 25th of November it became crystal clear that the EuropeanCommission ignored massive conflicts of interest when it hired thepowerful company called BlackRock, the world's biggest investment fundto give paid advice on how to make the banking sector more sustainable.On that day the European Ombudsman published a thorough decision onthis case, after a complaint that was filed by CEO and the ChangeFinance coalition, joined by some MEPs.The European Ombudsman stated that The European Commission did notproperly consider conflicts of interest when it granted the  contract toBlackRock - being  the world's largest asset manager with $7.8 trillionin assets and being a big investor in fossil fuels and also in companiesthat contribute big time to deforestation. The Change Finance coalition,believes the Commission should drop the contract and start afresh.