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Lily Baier
Thanks to Sarah Wheaton and Louise Guillot
Tips, stories and traumas for the POLITICO Brussels team @liliebayer or [email protected] | View in browser
good afternoon Welcome back to EU influence. This is my final newsletter, and from next week your EU lobbying and transparency world guide will be my wonderful colleague Sarah Wheaton.
Sarah is chief policy reporter at POLITICO Europe and has previously covered health policy. Before moving to Brussels, she was the White House correspondent for POLITICO in Washington.you can contact her [email protected] and [email protected]or via Twitter @swheaton.
lobby the EU
New manifesto: The European Union of Industry has released its Just Transition Manifesto calling for “an industrial policy fit for ambitious climate targets and high-quality jobs”. The union called for “adequate resources for the transition”, as well as “strengthening collective bargaining and social dialogue” and “addressing the need for new skills and the right to access high-quality training”.
Luc Triangle, Secretary General of industriAll Europesaying “workers want to shape change in their workplaces and communities, but they need a supportive and comprehensive just transition framework to do so.” According to Triangle, workers “need more than rhetoric, they Legislation is needed to ensure the future of decent work, and prospects for all regions of Europe.”
The latest in animal sports: Eurogroup for Animals and a coalition of organisations are backing the launch of a European Citizenship Initiative aimed at collecting 1 million signatures to end fur wearing in Europe.
“We have an unprecedented opportunity to finally put an end to this cruel and unnecessary practice,” Reineke HameleersThe chief executive of Eurogroup for Animals said in a statement, adding: “European citizens have long sought it, and their aspirations are beginning to change the fashion system, with many long-established brands moving away from fur. Last year’s AGRIFISH The committee proved that there is now also the political will.”
Lobbying Dogfights: My colleague Samuel Stolton writes that two of Brussels’ most powerful lobbying machines—big telcos and big tech—are preparing for war. On one side is a behemoth of telecom industry associations: the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO) and the GSMA, which represent a range of suppliers including Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone.
They argue that platform services – especially high-bandwidth services like Google’s YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime – have long benefited from the expansion of fixed and mobile telecommunications networks in Europe without incurring the cost of their development.
The opposite is the platform itself, represented in public policy circuits by the Washington-based Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a stalwart of net neutrality whose members include Google, Apple, Facebook owner Meta and Amazon.
Of course, every game needs a referee. Enter the European Commission, which will decide what “equitable contributions” platforms should make to financing telecom networks. read more here.
**Olivier Goosen and Mauro Petriccione, Director General of DG COMP and DG CLIMA exist European Commission, will speak on the panel June 15-16 at the European Competition Summit at POLITICO Live. In just one month, you won’t want to miss out . this incident. register today.**
EU Transparency
Revolving door query: European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said this week that the European Commission should take a tougher stance on ex-employees moving into the private sector.
In a report, O’Reilly wrote: “Commissions should take a stronger approach to transitioning their most senior staff to private sector jobs shortly after leaving or retiring, consistent with their work on the commission. related.” report after reviewing 100 committee decisions made between 2019 and 2021.
The Ombudsman found that of the 100 decisions reviewed – including turning to consultancies, law firms, academia and NGOs – the committee had rejected just two requests.
Too forgiving: In an interview with EU Influence this week, O’Reilly said that while there have been some improvements, “the committee is too lax and very reluctant to veto work, even for a period of time.” While the investigation found no “mismanagement,” The Ombudsman did point to a number of problems with the current system.
The Ombudsman said there was “a ‘difference’ between what the committee believes the person won’t do and what the company expects – or at least to their potential clients, what the newcomer is advertised as.
Suggest: However, while the investigation did not yield formal recommendations, the Ombudsman did make several recommendations that the Commission temporarily ban jobs if they pose risks that cannot be mitigated by properly monitored and enforced restrictions.
These include a set of “what-if” examples of where the European Commission should consider a temporary ban, including a “senior official” of the EU’s DG Competition requesting to “relocate to a dedicated competition committee” and a senior anti-dumping official looking to “move to a core business” is a private company in anti-dumping matters”.
The committee responded: A spokesman for the committee said the agency was following the rules. “The committee notes that the ombudsman has not identified any instances of maladministration,” a spokesman said in an email. “The ombudsman concluded this investigation without any recommendation,” the spokesman added. This means that the Commission’s approach was reasonable and in line with the rules.” read more here.
New logo: O’Reilly’s office also unveiled a new logo this week. Formally, it represents the three pillars of its mission: accountability, transparency and trust.but designreminiscent of pigeons in flight, also reflects the Ombudsman’s “bird’s-eye view of the government,” O’Reilly told a news conference.
**Global Impact and Sustainability Club (GIS Center) is DII’s new community of C-level CSR, impact and sustainability professionals. Get exclusive access to the club through POLITICO Pro. Pro enables you to meaningfully interact with industry peers and expert journalists. Contact for more information.**
influencer
Michelle Calabro Joined EUREGHA, the European network of regional and local health authorities, as Director.
Philip Crampton is the new president of the European Construction Industry Federation.
Investment Company Association has appointed Victor Van Horn Leads ICI Global’s European operations, representing the interests of the global regulated investment fund industry and long-term investors.
European Biogas Association has appointed Anders Mathiasson as president.
Instinctif Partners appointed Paul Sweetman as a director.
Crowdstrike has joined the BSA | Software Alliance as a global member.
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