Worst EU Lobbying Awards 2008 PDF Print E-mail
Lobbying

Corporate Europe Observatory, 4 August 2008 

ImageNominations are now open for the Worst EU Lobbying Awards 2008 - a chance to name and shame the perpetrators of some of the worst lobbying tactics in Brussels.

The idea behind the Worst EU Lobbying Awards is to discourage controversial lobbying practices by exposing them to the public. Thousands of corporate lobbyists roam the corridors of power in Brussels. Operating out of the spotlight, many of them do not hesitate to employ improper methods, like pretending to be concerned environmentalists, buying science, secretly funding anarcho-capitalist think-tanks, or securing privileged access to EU decision-makers. In June this year, the European Commission asked lobbyists to register themselves in a public register and to explain who they work for, and how much money is involved. But the lobbying register is voluntary, and it is so weak and flawed that it does not prevent lobbyists from working in the dark.

Last year, German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche won the ‘Worst EU Lobbying’ Award 2007 for their misleading and scaremongering lobby campaign to water down EU curbs on CO2-emissions from passenger cars. The German Atomic Forum received the special ‘Worst EU Greenwash’ Award for its campaign “Germany’s unloved climate protectionists”, which tried to greenwash the image of nuclear power plants.

This year's awards are being made for two categories:

   1. The Worst EU Lobbying Award - nominations should be made for any lobbying campaign which relies on deception, misleading information, inappropriate favours or other improper lobbying tactics to influence decision making within the EU.
   2. The Worst Conflict of Interest Award - nominations sought for the MEP, European Commissioner or other member of EU staff whose background, other jobs or liaisons with special interest lobbyists raise the most serious concerns about their ability to act impartially and in the public interest.

Nominations can be submitted online at www.worstlobby.eu until Friday 12th September 2008.

Everyone is invited to vote in the awards, online between Monday 13th October and Sunday 30th November. The Awards Ceremony will take place in Brussels in the second week of December.

The Worst EU Lobbying Awards is organised by Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth Europe, LobbyControl and Spinwatch.

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