It is the German Government’s fate to take over the EU Presidency during a global pandemic, an unprecedented economic collapse, and at a time when action to tackle the climate and environmental crises are increasingly urgent. But on 1 July, Germany will take over from Croatia at the helm of the EU, and as a new NGO report shows, there are genuine concerns about how close the Presidency will be to corporate interests.
Coordinated by Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl, the new report Tainted love: corporate lobbying and the upcoming German EU Presidency exposes how the car, gas, finance, BigData, chemicals, and fishing industries are too close to the German Government, and can often rely on its ministers to promote their interests in the EU Council during negotiations with other member states.
Our Fish Programme Director Rebecca Hubbard contributed Chapter 8 (Page 50-55) of Tainted Love, titled Fishy business: How the fishing industry gets first class treatment from the German Government:
Fish are a publicly owned resource and part of a critical ecosystem that supports life on Earth. Decisions about how fish stocks are to be managed and supported should maximise the benefits for the environment and society. Yet the EU-German decision-making processes on fish appear to benefit one very wealthy fishing industry group. The German Presidency must right this wrong.
Download the report in English from the Our Fish website here.
On the Corporate Observatory Europe website: Download the full report in English and German. The summary briefing is available in English and German. The civil society statement is available in English and German. Listen to a podcast (in English) on this report here.