It is high time that the EU institutions put an end to excessive lobbying. Lobbyists must be banned from the European Parliament, and the ability of individual multinational companies to influence EU Commissioners must be stopped. In addition, all corruption scandals induced by lobbying should be investigated. That’s what Harald Vilimsky, MEP and list-topping candidate for the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) said, while citing as an example the lobby groups-triggered corruption scandal in Brussels that has massively shaken confidence in EU institutions, the V4NA international news agency reports.
The NGO "Lobbycontrol", recently published a new report criticizing the favorable conditions for corporate and third-country influence peddling in the EU. According to the report, the fifty companies with the highest lobbying expenditures in Brussels have increased their budgets by two-thirds over the past ten years, meaning they could presumably be spending that much more money on lobbying in the European Parliament, for example.
The problem is not only the sheer mass of 29,000 lobbyists for some 12000 organisations descending on the EU institutions in Brussels, but also the lack of enforcement of the relevant regulations. As the report notes, no MEP has so far been sanctioned for breaching lobbying rules. As a result, there are still people running around the corridors of the European Parliament who refuse to register in the EU lobby register,
Vilimsky said, noting: "What can you expect when even the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is communicating directly on her mobile phone to Pfizer chief Albert Bourla about a €35 billion vaccine deal and still refuses to disclose the details of the conversation. This is the real Brussels behind the hypocritical facade," he stated.
Cover photo: Illustration (Photo: MTI/EPA/Toms Kalnins)
