MEPs declarations of interests lack detail and rigor Brussels, 19 July 2012 – An analysis of the declarations of interest of the 754 sitting MEPs found several issues with regards to their declarations that prevent citizens from having a full picture about the outside activities and potential conflicts of interests of Members of the European Parliament. The report, researched by

The Brussels Business – Who Runs the European Union? Brussels, 19 April 2012 – The Brussels Business Movie. A new movie, recently launched in Brussels puts the spotlight on the power of the lobbying industry in Brussels. Here’s how the film-makers introduce “The Brussels Business” movie: “The film dives into the shadowy world of lobbying, the secretive networks of power

Euro-Just lobbies Council for Special Secrecy Exclusion Brussels, 12 April 2012 – A leaked document dated 12 April 2012 has revealed that EuroJust, the EU’s judicial cooperation body, attended the last Council meeting to argue for special language to exclude it from the future access to documents rules. According to the text passed to Access Info Europe, EuroJust is arguing

How to make a more transparent registration Brussels, 3 April 2012 – Members of the EU Civil Society Contact Group and ALTER-EU have decided to adopt higher standard of transparency than the inconsistent and insufficient requirements for registration in the “Transparency Register”. Our guidelines for registration set a constructive example of how the “Transparency Register” could be easily improved.

New ethical code too weak to prevent another ‘lobbygate’ Brussels, 20 March 2012 – Today marks the first anniversary of the ‘cash-for-amendments’ scandal, in which several Members of the European Parliament were exposed tabling legislative amendments in exchange for money. Ethics campaigners warn that the new code introduced following the scandal does not include all the safeguards necessary to prevent