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Einfluss von Konzernen begrenzen Pressemitteilung vom 25. Oktober 2004 Über 50 Organisationen aus ganz Europa: Offener Brief an EU-Kommission: "Einfluss von Konzernen begrenzen" In einem Offenen Brief an José Manuel Barroso fordern mehr als 50 Organisationen aus ganz Europa, den "exzessiven Einfluss industrieller Lobbygruppen auf die EU-Politik einzuschränken". Die Unterzeichner schlagen vor, alle Wirtschaftsbeziehungen der an den Gesetzgebungsverfahren der EU beteiligten Personen offen zu legen. Für EU-Kommissare, die in die Industrie wechseln wollen, solle eine Sperrfrist gelten. Lobbyorganisationen und PR-Firmen müssen nach US-Vorbild verpflichtet werden, regelmäßig Berichte über ihre Tätigkeit, ihr Budget und ihre Klienten zu veröffentlichen und in öffentlich zugänglichen Datenbanken zugänglich zu machen. Die Kritiker monieren darüber hinaus die zunehmend industrie-freundliche Ausrichtung der EU-Kommission, wie sie sich unter anderem in dem Ansinnen zeigt, Verbraucherschutz- und Umweltgesetze künftig auf ihre Wirtschaftsverträglichkeit zu prüfen. Schließlich fordern die Organisationen, den priviligierten Zugang von Lobbyorganisationen wie European Roundtable, European Services Forum oder Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue zur EU-Kommission zu unterbinden. Philipp Mimkes von der Coordination gegen BAYER-Gefahren, die zu den Unterzeichnern gehört: "Immer öfter setzen sich Partikularinteressen einzelner Industriezweige gegenüber dem Allgemeinwohl durch - dies ist mit demokratischen Prinzipien nicht zu vereinbaren. So wurde auf Druck der deutschen Chemie-Industrie die ursprünglich ambitionierte Reform der EU-Chemikaliengesetzgebung vollkommen verwässert. Die Vorschläge von Umwelt- und Verbraucherschützern hingegen wurden bei der Überarbeitung des Gesetzespakets fast völlig ignoriert." Allein in Brüssel arbeiten 15.000 Lobbyisten, die zum größten Teil auf der Lohnliste von Unternehmen und Lobbyverbänden stehen. Häufig treten sie als "Experten" oder "Verbraucherschützer" auf, ohne ihre Kontakte zu PR-Firmen, Konzernen oder wirtschaftlichen Interessensgruppen offen zu legen. Verbesserungen der Sozial-, Umwelt- und Verbraucherschutz-Gesetzgebung werden hierdurch regelmäßig geschwächt oder blockiert. Aktuell steht der Fall des Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF), das sich vehement gegen eine Regulierung gefährlicher Flammschutzmittel einsetzt, in der Kritik. Erst Recherchen von Umweltgruppen deckten auf, dass sich hinter dem BSEF eine von der Chemie-Industrie finanzierte PR-Firma verbirgt. ZU DEN UNTERZEICHNERN GEHÖREN: Attac Frankreich, Attac Spanien, BUND, Greenpeace Europe, Friends of the Earth England, Corporate Europe Observatory Den Offenen Brief im Original finden Sie unter: http://www.corporateeurope.org/barroso.html Coordination gegen BAYER-Gefahren CBGnetwork@aol.com http://www.CBGnetwork.de Tel: 0211-333 911 Fax 040 – 3603 741835 Beirat Dr. Sigrid Müller, Pharmakologin, Bremen Dr. Erika Abczynski, Kinderärztin, Dormagen Eva Bulling-Schröter, ehem. MdB, Berlin Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rochlitz, Chemiker, ehem. MdB, Burgwald Dr. Janis Schmelzer, Historiker, Berlin Wolfram Esche, Rechtsanwalt, Köln Dorothee Sölle,Theologin, Hamburg (U 2003) Prof. Dr. Anton Schneider, Baubiologe, Neubeuern Prof. Jürgen Junginger, Designer, Krefeld European Commission Must Act to Curb Excessive Corporate Lobbying Power http://www.corporateeurope.org/barroso.html Open Letter to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (PDF version) Amsterdam, October 25 2004 Dear Mr. Barroso, The undersigned over 50 civil society groups from more than a dozen European Union countries call upon you to act immediately to curb the excessive influence of corporate lobby groups over EU policy-making. Over fifteen thousand full-time lobbyists now operate in Brussels, a large majority representing business interests. Lobby groups succeed all too frequently in postponing, weakening or blocking sorely needed progress in EU social, environmental and consumer protections. The European Commission must take action now to prevent Europe from drifting towards the levels of corporate control exercised over politics in the United States. We welcome the decision to introduce a "Code of Conduct for Commissioners" (including a full declaration of financial interests) and designate Commissioner Neelie Kroes' pledge to refrain from accepting business positions after her term as Competition Commissioner. These are steps in the right direction, but they are not sufficient. All European Commissioners and other Commission officials should be obliged to accept substantial and well-defined cooling-off periods. Such measures are needed to prevent 'revolving door' cases like that of former Trade Commissioner Brittan, who less than a year after leaving the European Commission became not only consultant on WTO issues at the law firm Herbert Smith, but also Vice-Chairman of the investment bank UBS Warburg and Advisory Director at Unilever. Soon after, he also accepted the Chairmanship of the LOTIS Committee of International Financial Services London (IFSL), a lobby group representing the UK financial industry. Such cases do nothing to enhance the reputation of the European Commission. Thousands of lobbyists, assisted by an army of public affairs consultants, today play a powerful and increasingly undemocratic role in the EU political process. As a first step in addressing these problems, Europe needs far stricter ethics and transparency requirements. So far, the Commission's response has been deeply inadequate; limited to referring to the extremely narrow and entirely voluntary code of conduct developed by the Society of European Public Affairs Practitioners (SEAP). One of many examples illustrating the need for improved and enforceable ethics and transparency rules is the case of the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF) which is lobbying against tighter health and environment regulations concerning toxic bromines. Considerable research efforts are needed to discover that the BSEF - a very active player in the EU decision-making process on bromine flame retardants - is nothing but an industry front group run from the Brussels offices of a global PR firm, on behalf of chemical industry clients. Without a radical improvement of the registration and reporting obligations for lobbyists working to influence the European institutions, there can be no effective democratic scrutiny of corporate influence over EU policy-making. Europe should learn from the lobbying disclosure legislation in place in the United States and Canada and oblige firms and organisations targeting the EU institutions (with a lobbying budget over a certain threshold) to submit regular reports giving details on the issues they are lobbying on, for which clients and with what budget. These lobbying disclosure reports should be fully accessible to the public in an online searchable database. We also call upon the new European Commission to make a clean break with the undemocratic practices developed by your predecessors, for instance the incestuous relationship with the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), co-founded in 1995 by Commissioner Leon Brittan. The TABD is a prime example of the inappropriate influence over EU trade and regulatory policies which previous European Commissions have granted large corporations. We draw to your attention that the Prodi Commission in 2003 took the deeply undemocratic step to accelerate implementation of the TABD's demands by introducing a "Framework for Delivery" and establishing a "Horizontal Liaison Group" of high-level Commission officials at the service of the TABD. Questions on this topic were raised during the European Parliament's hearing with Peter Mandelson on October 4th, but the Commissioner-designate failed to reply. The European Services Forum (ESF) is another example of a corporate grouping awarded far-reaching and inordinate privileges by the European Commission. As EU policies should serve the public interest, not the narrow commercial agendas of large corporations, we urge you to strip these and other business lobby groups of their inappropriate privileges. We look forward to your response to these proposals, which we believe are of the highest importance for improving the democratic credibility of the European Commission. Yours sincerely, Erik Wesselius Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) Read our follow-up letter to Mr. Barroso (16 November 2004), containing a short comment on the letter that the Society of European Affairs Professionals (SEAP) sent to Mr. Barroso in reaction to the Open Letter on Curbing Excessive Corporate Lobbying Power. Letter to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (PDF version) Amsterdam, November 16 2004 Dear Mr. Barroso, Herewith we re-send you the open letter calling the European Commission to act to curb excessive corporate lobbying power. The letter was first transmitted to you on October 25 2004. Please find attached the updated list of signatories (including more than 110 civil society groups from over 20 EU countries). Please allow us to briefly comment on a note sent to you by the Society of European Affairs Professionals ("SEAP rejects NGOs request for registration and reporting requirements", Brussels 26 October 2004). With all respect, SEAP fails to provide any convincing counter-arguments. We urge you to seriously consider the ethics and transparency proposals outlined in the open letter. The SEAP letter claims that registration and reporting requirements would "introduce the American model in Europe". Such anti-American rhetoric obscures the reality that the EU is far behind the US (or Canada) when it comes to ethics and transparency regulations around lobbying. The problem with "the American model" is obviously not the lobbying disclosure legislation, but the distorting role of campaign finance donations in politics, an issue which is the subject of continuous and intense debate in the US. In Europe, fortunately, corporate campaign donations play virtually no role. This is one of many reasons to expect that lobbying disclosure rules would significantly improve the possibilities for democratic scrutiny and thus boost the quality of EU decision-making process. We look forward to your response to the proposals made in the open letter. Yours sincerely, Erik Wesselius Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) http://www.corporateeurope.org/barroso.html European Commission Must Act to Curb Excessive Corporate Lobbying Power Open Letter to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (PDF version) Amsterdam, October 25 2004 Dear Mr. Barroso, The undersigned over 50 civil society groups from more than a dozen European Union countries call upon you to act immediately to curb the excessive influence of corporate lobby groups over EU policy-making. Over fifteen thousand full-time lobbyists now operate in Brussels, a large majority representing business interests. Lobby groups succeed all too frequently in postponing, weakening or blocking sorely needed progress in EU social, environmental and consumer protections. The European Commission must take action now to prevent Europe from drifting towards the levels of corporate control exercised over politics in the United States. We welcome the decision to introduce a "Code of Conduct for Commissioners" (including a full declaration of financial interests) and designate Commissioner Neelie Kroes' pledge to refrain from accepting business positions after her term as Competition Commissioner. These are steps in the right direction, but they are not sufficient. All European Commissioners and other Commission officials should be obliged to accept substantial and well-defined cooling-off periods. Such measures are needed to prevent 'revolving door' cases like that of former Trade Commissioner Brittan, who less than a year after leaving the European Commission became not only consultant on WTO issues at the law firm Herbert Smith, but also Vice-Chairman of the investment bank UBS Warburg and Advisory Director at Unilever. Soon after, he also accepted the Chairmanship of the LOTIS Committee of International Financial Services London (IFSL), a lobby group representing the UK financial industry. Such cases do nothing to enhance the reputation of the European Commission. Thousands of lobbyists, assisted by an army of public affairs consultants, today play a powerful and increasingly undemocratic role in the EU political process. As a first step in addressing these problems, Europe needs far stricter ethics and transparency requirements. So far, the Commission's response has been deeply inadequate; limited to referring to the extremely narrow and entirely voluntary code of conduct developed by the Society of European Public Affairs Practitioners (SEAP). One of many examples illustrating the need for improved and enforceable ethics and transparency rules is the case of the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF) which is lobbying against tighter health and environment regulations concerning toxic bromines. Considerable research efforts are needed to discover that the BSEF - a very active player in the EU decision-making process on bromine flame retardants - is nothing but an industry front group run from the Brussels offices of a global PR firm, on behalf of chemical industry clients. Without a radical improvement of the registration and reporting obligations for lobbyists working to influence the European institutions, there can be no effective democratic scrutiny of corporate influence over EU policy-making. Europe should learn from the lobbying disclosure legislation in place in the United States and Canada and oblige firms and organisations targeting the EU institutions (with a lobbying budget over a certain threshold) to submit regular reports giving details on the issues they are lobbying on, for which clients and with what budget. These lobbying disclosure reports should be fully accessible to the public in an online searchable database. We also call upon the new European Commission to make a clean break with the undemocratic practices developed by your predecessors, for instance the incestuous relationship with the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), co-founded in 1995 by Commissioner Leon Brittan. The TABD is a prime example of the inappropriate influence over EU trade and regulatory policies which previous European Commissions have granted large corporations. We draw to your attention that the Prodi Commission in 2003 took the deeply undemocratic step to accelerate implementation of the TABD's demands by introducing a "Framework for Delivery" and establishing a "Horizontal Liaison Group" of high-level Commission officials at the service of the TABD. Questions on this topic were raised during the European Parliament's hearing with Peter Mandelson on October 4th, but the Commissioner-designate failed to reply. The European Services Forum (ESF) is another example of a corporate grouping awarded far-reaching and inordinate privileges by the European Commission. As EU policies should serve the public interest, not the narrow commercial agendas of large corporations, we urge you to strip these and other business lobby groups of their inappropriate privileges. We look forward to your response to these proposals, which we believe are of the highest importance for improving the democratic credibility of the European Commission. Yours sincerely, Erik Wesselius Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) Read our follow-up letter to Mr. Barroso (16 November 2004), containing a short comment on the letter that the Society of European Affairs Professionals (SEAP) sent to Mr. Barroso in reaction to the Open Letter on Curbing Excessive Corporate Lobbying Power. Corporate lobbying organisations in Brussels oppose binding rules on transparency and ethics for lobbyists in Brussels. Read more. Signatories (as of 16 November 2004): • Afrika Europa Netwerk, The Netherlands • Agir ici, France • Agrarbündnis, Austria • Alliance for Sustainable Development, Latvia • Alliance of People of African descent in Europe • ÄrztInnen für eine gesunde Umwelt (ISDE Austria) • A SEED Europe • Association of Critical Shareholders in Germany • Association of Farmers (ATB), Malta • Associazione Consumatori Utenti ONLUS, Italy • ATTAC España, Spain • ATTAC Finland • ATTAC Flanders, Belgium • ATTAC France • ATTAC Germany • ATTAC Sweden • Baby Milk Action, United Kingdom • Berne Declaration, Switzerland • Both ENDS, The Netherlands • Bundeskoordination Internationalismus (BUKO), Germany • Bureau Ver(?)antwoord, The Netherlands • Caliu, Catalunia • Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale, Italy • Campagne tegen Wapenhandel, The Netherlands • Centro Nuovo Modello di Sviluppo, Italy • CLAT, The Netherlands • Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, Germany • CornerHouse, United Kingdom • Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) • Crocevia, Italy • Defend Council Housing, United Kingdom • Diaspora Afrique, France • digicarefoundation.org, The Netherlands • Ecologistas en Acción, Spain • E.KAT.O. - Hellenic Consumer Organisation, Greece • ESK, Basque Country • Estonian Green Movement • EU-AG ATTAC Germany • European Farmers Coordination (CPE) • For Mother Earth, Belgium • Friends of the Earth Europe (more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups) • Greenpeace (European Unit) • Hungarian Young Greens • IBFAN-GIFA, Switzerland • IBFAN Italia • Initiativ Liewensufank asbl, member of IBFAN, Luxembourg • Informationsgruppe Lateinamerika, Austria • Institute for Economic Relocalisation, France • Institute of Environmental Economics, Poland • Kairos Europa • KEPKA-Consumers Protection Centre, Greece • Konsument-Forum, Sweden • "Less beneficence, more rights", Italian coalition of NGOs • Monitoring Network Health and Environment, The Netherlands • Movement for Direct Democracy, Czech Republic • National Plaform EU Research and Information Centre, Ireland • Nonviolent Peaceforce • NordBruk, Sweden • Observatori del Deute en la Globalització, Catalonia • Österreichische Bergbauern- und Bergbäuerinnenvereinigung, Austria • Oxfam Solidarity, Belgium • Pesticide Action Network, United Kingdom • Privacy International, United Kingdom • Protect the Future, Hungary • Quaker Council for European Affairs • Quercus - National Association for Nature Conservation, Portugal • Referendum Platform, the Netherlands • Rete di Lilliput, Italy • Roba dell'Altro Mondo Fair Trade, Italy • SANE (Swansea Airport No Expansion), Wales, United Kingdom • Shareholders club Sisyfos, Sweden • Småbrukare i Sjuhärad, Sweden • Spinwatch • Swedish Consumer Coalition (Sveriges Konsumenter i Samverkan) • TIE-Netherlands • Transnational Institute (TNI) • Women in Development Europe (WIDE) • World Development Movement, United Kingdom • Umanotera, Foundation for Sustainable Development, Slovenia • URFIG, France • War on Want, United Kingdom • Werkgroep Globalisering Delft-Den Haag, The Netherlands • Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), The Netherlands • Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Sweden • Women's International League for Peace and Freedom UK Section • World Economy, Ecology & Development (WEED), Germany • XminusY Solidarity Fund, Netherlands Signatories from outside of Europe: • Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, United States • Consumer Action, United States |
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