Corporate Europe Observatory

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Registration as it was on 01 May 2019
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Overview

Lobbying Costs

201,896€

Financial year: Jan 2018 - Dec 2018

Lobbyists (Full time equivalent)

6.25 Fte (15)

Lobbyists with EP accreditation

3

High-level Commission meetings

19

Lobbying Costs over the years

  • Info

    Corporate Europe Observatory   (CEO)

    EU Transparency Register

    5353162366-85 First registered on 05 Sep 2008

    Goals / Remit

    Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making.

    Corporate Europe Observatory is strongly committed to transparency about EU lobbying. CEO believes that the Transparency Register fails basic transparency standards and does not yet live up to its name. We support ALTER-EU's demand for a legally-binding register, stronger safeguards against inaccurate reporting, and the publication of the names of all individual interest representatives.

    When registering, we have chosen to provide additional information that we consider necessary and relevant for lobbying transparency. A credible EU lobbying transparency register should include names of individual lobbyists and the issues that they try to influence, provide precise and comparable financial information on lobbying, and have effective monitoring and sanctions to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information disclosed. In an effort to arrive at a more objective way of calculating lobbying expenditures, we follow guidelines that result from consultations with public interest organisations, professionals working on lobby transparency as well as experts of US lobby disclosure legislation. Our registration is therefore providing a more comprehensive calculation of our expenses for activities that aim to influence the policy formulation and decision-making processes of the European institutions, and a list of those who, on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory, carry out such activities. Our registration is based on the guidelines for transparent registration developed by the Civil Society Contact Group and ALTER-EU. Find the guidelines here: https://www.alter-eu.org/sites/default/files/documents/2012_ALTER-EU_CSCG_guidelines_Transparency_Register.pdf

    In 2018-19 Corporate Europe Observatory runs campaigns and conducts research on the following issues (among others):

    - corporate political influence at EU level
    - EU lobby transparency and ethics rules
    - conflicts of interest rules of EU institutions
    - agri-business, chemicals, plastics, and biodiversity
    - climate and energy, including Dieselgate
    - international trade and investment rules
    - regulation of financial markets
    - EU economic governance
    - better regulation
    - digital single market

    Main EU files targeted

    Issues covered in 2018-19:
    - 2016-19 EU Transparency Register Review
    - Commission work programmes for 2018 and 2019
    - Revision and implementation of 2018 Code of Conduct for EU Commissioners
    - Ongoing implementation of 2014 European staff regulations
    - Ongoing implementation of Code of Conduct for MEPs
    - Founding regulations, rules on conflicts of interest, transparency issues at EU agencies (including the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA))
    - Ongoing implementation of Rules of Procedure for Expert Groups
    - European Parliament's working group: Revisiting the Rules of Procedure (2017)
    - European Parliament's report: Transparency, Accountability and Integrity in the EU Institutions
    - EU position at climate negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
    - Security of gas supply and LNG and gas storage strategies and resulting action plans; Projects of Common Interest; gas market reform; renewable gas
    - EU trade policy, with a focus on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA), the EU-Japan agreement (JEFTA), EU foreign investment policy and the proposed EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Energy Charter Treaty
    - Food, GMO and pesticide policies and regulations, including glyphosate license renewal
    - Revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive
    - Horizon Europe (EU Research Funding Programme)
    - Short term rental platforms and the single market (gig economy)
    - European Central Bank ethics rules and asset purchases (quantitative easing)
    - Report by Tax3 European Parliament Committee
    - Proposed directive on the enforcement of the Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, laying down a notification procedure for authorisation schemes and requirements related to services, COM(2016) 821 (also known as the Services notification procedure directive)
    - Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment
    - Classification of titanium dioxide
    - Directive on the protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law (whistleblowers)

    In addition in 2018-19 we work to expose corporate lobbying on the following additional dossiers: Brexit; Capital Markets Union; Banking regulation; Copyright directive; Clinical Trials Directive and Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI 2); Clean Energy for All Europeans; Vehicle emissions review; Unconventional Fossil Fuels (BREFs); Tax Transparency Package; Endocrine disruptors regulation; development of the Economic and Monetary Union (including the 5 Presidents' report); ePrivacy; new gas infrastructure; consultancies lobbying for repressive regimes; privatisation of healthcare in Europe; threats to democracy emerging from the rise of billionaires in politics; EU medicines policy.

    Address

    Head Office
    Rue d'Edimbourg, 26
    Brussels 1050
    BELGIUM
  • People

    Total lobbyists declared

    15

    Employment timeLobbyists
    100%1
    50%7
    25%7

    Lobbyists (Full time equivalent)

    6.25

    Lobbyists with EP accreditation

    All Lobbyists with EP accreditation over time

    3 accreditations were / are live (in bold) for the selected state of 01 May 2019

    Name Start date End Date
    Marcella VIA 30 Nov 2023 07 Nov 2024
    Ms Marcella VIA 30 Nov 2023 15 Apr 2024
    Ms Martha MYERS-LOWE 06 May 2023 31 Jan 2024
    Ms Margarida da Silva 05 Nov 2019 31 Oct 2020
    Mr Richard Olivier Hoedeman 11 Sep 2019 01 Oct 2020
    Ms Luisa IZUZQUIZA 15 Jun 2019 01 Jul 2020
    Ms Nina Holland 13 Apr 2019 01 May 2020
    Mr Martin Pigeon 05 Apr 2019 04 Apr 2020
    Ms Margarida da Silva 26 Oct 2018 26 Oct 2019
    Ms Nina Holland 03 Feb 2018 02 Feb 2019
    Ms Lora Verheecke 30 Jan 2018 31 Oct 2018
    Mr Richard Olivier Hoedeman 07 Dec 2017 06 Dec 2018
    Ms Margarida da Silva 01 Nov 2017 26 Oct 2018
    Mr Martin Pigeon 05 Oct 2017 27 Sep 2018
    Ms Nina Holland 26 Oct 2016 25 Oct 2017
    Mr Pascoe Sabido 19 Oct 2016 18 Oct 2017
    Mr Martin Pigeon 13 Oct 2016 05 Oct 2017
    Ms Margarida da Silva 30 Sep 2016 29 Sep 2017
    Mr Richard Olivier Hoedeman 07 Jun 2016 04 Jun 2017
    Ms Katharina KLEIN 22 Sep 2015 18 Jan 2016
    Mr Erik Wesselius 12 Sep 2015 10 Sep 2016
    Mr Pascoe Sabido 05 Sep 2015 03 Sep 2016
    Ms Nina Holland 03 Sep 2015 01 Sep 2016
    Mr Martin Pigeon 03 Jul 2015 30 Jun 2016
    Mr Richard Olivier Hoedeman 04 Jun 2015 01 Jun 2016
    Ms Nina Holland 01 May 2014 05 Jun 2015
    Ms Lora Verheecke 08 Jan 2015 06 Jan 2016
    Mr David Lundy 09 Jan 2015 07 Jan 2016
    Mrs Lora Verheecke 08 Jan 2015 27 Jan 2015
    Mr Erik Wesselius 05 Jul 2014 03 Jul 2015
    Mr Richard Olivier Hoedeman 01 May 2014 04 Jun 2015
    Mr Martin Pigeon 01 May 2014 05 Jun 2015
    Mrs Nina Holland 01 May 2014 27 Jan 2015
    Mr Pascoe Sabido 01 May 2014 05 Jun 2015
    Mrs Leontine Hogervorst 05 Feb 2014 18 May 2014
    Mrs Victoria Lucy Cann 02 Oct 2013 22 Feb 2014
    Mr Ivan Mammana 21 Jun 2013 22 Feb 2014
    Mr Richard Olivier Hoedeman 18 Apr 2013 17 Apr 2014
    Mrs Maria Belen Balanya Vidal 18 Apr 2013 02 Mar 2014
    Mr David Sanchez Carpio 13 Apr 2013 03 Oct 2013
    Mr Erik Wesselius 13 Apr 2013 02 Apr 2014
    Mrs Ester Arauzo Azofra 13 Apr 2013 02 Mar 2014
    Mr Kenneth Haar 13 Apr 2013 12 Feb 2014
    Mr Martin Pigeon 13 Apr 2013 12 Apr 2014
    Mrs Nina Holland 13 Apr 2013 12 Apr 2014
    Mr Pascoe Sabido 13 Apr 2013 12 Apr 2014
    Mrs Pia Eberhardt 13 Apr 2013 15 Feb 2014
    Mrs Rachel Tansey 13 Apr 2013 03 Oct 2013
    Mr Martin Konecny 13 Apr 2013 05 Oct 2013

    Complementary Information

    Below we list staff members, alongside the main topics they work on (March 2019):

    - Olivier Hoedeman (15%): lobby transparency, privileged access, conflicts of interest regulation, tobacco, better regulation, services notification procedure
    - Nina Holland (25%): food and agriculture policy
    - Theresa Crysmann (30%): CEO media officer
    - Martin Pigeon (40%): food and agriculture policy, Lobbycracy (EFSA), research policy
    - Pascoe Sabido (40%): privileged access, lobbying transparency, conflicts of interest, climate and energy (particularly gas and the UNFCCC), expert groups, municipalism
    - Lora Verheecke (10%): trade policy, lobbying transparency (left July 2018)
    - Erik Wesselius (5%): lobby transparency
    - Belén Balanyá (30%): climate and energy (particularly gas, UNFCCC and emissions trading), corporate capture, Council of the EU
    - Vicky Cann (30%): lobby transparency, corporate capture, Council of the EU, plastics, ePrivacy, titanium dioxide
    - Pia Eberhardt (15%): trade policy, privileged access, EU foreign investment policy
    - Kenneth Haar (15%): EU economic governance, financial sector regulation, Brexit, European Central Bank, the gig economy
    - Margarida Da Silva (70%): lobby transparency, conflicts of interest, revolving doors, corporate capture, digital
    - Sarah Reader (30%): Conflicts of interest, lobbying transparency, privileged access, corporate capture (left January 2018)
    - Kat Ainger (10%): Lobby transparency
    - Luisa Izuzquiza (30%): Conflicts of interest, lobbying transparency, privileged access, corporate capture (since February 2019)


    Not all these staff work full-time for CEO; many are part-time and the percentages given relate to their total working hours. Our FTE calculation is based on rounding up all figures and reflects the current situation; some staff work substantially less than the FTE percentages given.

    Person in charge of EU relations

    Mr Olivier Hoedeman (Research and campaigns coordinator)

    Person with legal responsibility

    Ms Analía Penchaszadeh (Board Chair)

  • Categories

    Category

    III - Non-governmental organisations

    Subcategory

    Non-governmental organisations, platforms and networks and similar

  • Networking

    Affiliation

    - Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) www.alter-eu.org
    - The Treaty Alliance http://www.treatymovement.com/
    - Seattle to Brussels Network (S2B) www.s2bnetwork.org
    - European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) www.corporatejustice.org
    - Climate Justice Now! (CJN!) https://climatejusticenow.org/
    - Better Regulation Watchdog (BRW) www.betterregwatch.eu/
    - AlterSummit http://www.altersummit.eu/
    - Financialisation of Nature network (FoN) http://www.makefinancework.org/network-against-financialisation-nature
    - Alliance D19-20 http://www.d19-20.be/
    - European Network of Corporate Observatories (informal network under construction)  
    - Change Finance coalition http://www.changefinance.org/
    - Citizens for Science in Pesticide Regulation https://citizens4pesticidereform.eu/
    - Rights for people rules for corporations campaign https://stopisds.org/
    - Beyond Gas Network https://www.rosalux.eu/metanavigation/multimedia/time-to-go-beyond-gas/
    - Climate Justice Action https://climatejusticeaction.net/en/

    Member organisations

    None declared

  • Financial Data

    Closed financial year

    Jan 2018 - Dec 2018

    Lobbying costs for closed financial year

    201,896€

    Other financial info

    Additional information on Corporate Europe Observatory’s expenses and income related to interest representation activities (please note our critique on this register under "organisation's goals/remit" above):

    Corporate Europe Observatory’s expenses for interest representation activities in the year 2017 amounted to €201,896. These expenses were calculated according to the guidelines for registration drawn up by the EU Civil Society Contact Group and the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU). See: https://www.alter-eu.org/sites/default/files/documents/2012_ALTER-EU_CSCG_guidelines_Transparency_Register.pdf


    In 2018 our grants income was received from these funders:

    Isvara Foundation - €189,000
    Adessium Foundation - €143,250
    Open Society Foundation - €95,935
    Schöpflin Foundation - €72,200
    Olin Foundation - €60,000
    Funders for Fair Trade - €40,000
    Marisla Foundation (Global Green Grants) - €25,698
    Fondation du Progress Humaine - €26,000
    The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust - €25,000
    OAK Foundation - €10,000
    Rockefeller / Plastic Solutions Fund - €10,000
    Sigrid Rausing Trust - €7,487

    Total grants income: € 704,570

    In addition we received these large donations in 2018:
    Transnational Institute – €10,000
    Ms Karde-Marie Wirtz- €44,120

    Full accounts for 2008-2017 are available on our website: https://corporateeurope.org/sites/default/files/ceo_surpluses_and_losses_2008-2017x.pdf

  • EU Structures

    Groups (European Commission)

    none

    Groups (European Parliament)

    Intergroup on integrity, transparency, corruption and organised crime (ITCO). Corporate Europe Observatory is not a member of this intergroup, but occasionally attends some meetings.

    Communication activities

    This information is available on our website: http://corporateeurope.org/

    Other activities

    Full accounts for 2008-17 are available on our website: https://corporateeurope.org/sites/default/files/ceo_surpluses_and_losses_2008-2017x.pdf

  • Meetings

    Meetings

    19 meetings found. Download meetings

    The list below only covers meetings held since November 2014 with commissioners, their cabinet members or directors-general at the European Commission; other lobby meetings with lower-level staff may have taken place, but the European Commission doesn't proactively publish information about these meetings. For more information about which commissioner is responsible for which portfolio, check out this link: https://commissioners.ec.europa.eu/index_en All information below comes from European Commission web pages.

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