Lobbying and advocacy
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Agriculture: EU abuzz over missing bees
1 March 2013835 20 De Standaard Brussels -
Data protection: A platform to flush out the lobbies
12 February 2013243 4PresseuropFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung -
Interview: Friedrich Moser: “There’s a democratic deficit in the EU”
8 February 2013160PresseuropBlog -
European Commision: Dalligate: MEPs call for an inquest
10 January 201369 2PresseuropDe Morgen -
European Commission: Big Tobacco at home in Brussels
30 November 2012293 12 Der Spiegel Hamburg -
Euromyths (2/10): Lobbies, not always a bad thing
24 July 2012110 6 De Groene Amsterdammer Amsterdam -
Financial regulation: Finance Watch - a lobby to break the lobbies
23 February 2012644 6 Der Tagesspiegel Berlin -
Health: Europe’s food safety in hands of lobbies
15 November 2011667 3 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
European Institutions: The wild world of lobbyists
7 April 2011243 3 România libera Bucharest -
Corruption: Another MEP gets caught redhanded
28 March 201154PresseuropEl Mundo -
European Parliament: Three MEPs caught in lobby sting
21 March 2011139 1PresseuropThe Times -
Germany: A grand guignol republic
11 February 2011PresseuropCicero -
Germany: Where big pharma is king
22 October 2010PresseuropDie Zeit -
European Commission: Questions over ex-commissioners in clover
24 September 2010PresseuropDe Volkskrant -
European Union: When ex-commissioners land lobby jobs
13 July 201018 2PresseuropEUobserver.com -
Institutions: Is Brussels in the clutches of lobbies?
28 June 201086 2 Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Warsaw -
European Parliament: SOS against financial lobby
22 June 2010PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
European Union: Lobbyists attack lobby watchdog
24 March 20101PresseuropEUobserver.com -
Environnement: Cold shoulder for A/C energy campaigners
21 August 2009PresseuropTrouw -
Czech Republic: Ecology – sure, but to a point
21 July 2009Presseurop -
United Kingdom: Making prisons “comfortable” in Nigeria
9 July 2009PresseuropThe Daily Mail
A category of insecticides, widely used throughout the agricultural sector, may be responsible for Europe’s high level of bee mortality. The European Commission wants to ban their use, but manufacturers are throwing a spanner in the works. 
The resignation of Health Commissioner John Dalli last month lifted the lid on the influence of the tobacco industry in the European Commission. That influence has even penetrated OLAF, Europe's anti-fraud office, writes Der Spiegel. 
Lobbies hovering around Brussels are legion but what is their role? And do they win every time? In the second part of its investigation into euromyths, the Groene Amsterdammer analyses the power relations between EU institutions and pressure groups. 
The Brussels financial lobby seems all powerful. Since the Lehman crash of 2008, it has stalled all attempts to reform the financial market in Europe. But things should be changing now: Europe has hired an anti-lobby. 
The European Food Inspection Authority decides what ends up on our plates. But their links with industry are many – and consumers are paying for it. 
The recent scandal surrounding MEPs who allowed themselves to be corrupted by journalists posing as lobbyists has lifted the veil on the often ambiguous relationships between representatives of interest groups and European institutions. 
Today lobby groups wield more power in Brussels than they do in Washington. And in the absence of stricter regulations, they will continue to enjoy unlimited freedom to influence European legislation.