A weekly newsletter on campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the EU.
EU Influence
By ELISA BRAUN
BONJOUR. If you were to look up at the sky last week, you’d have seen a unique alignment of planets — a cosmic dance in our solar system that can be seen with the naked eye as an arc of bright dots in the night sky. These rare patterns can be predicted by science … unlike the alignment of political forces we’re seeing down here on Earth.
Political supernova. The world stage displayed spectacular (re)alignments this past week, with the United States and Russia voting on the same side on Ukraine at the United Nations. Meanwhile in Europe, the far right and conservatives are picking uncannily synchronous fights against NGOs. And if you aim your telescope at Brussels — well, you might just see shadows.
Today’s celestial navigational guide includes:
— A meteor shower of ideas in the European Parliament to attack or defend civil society organizations.
— At the Commission, a former EU lawmaker known for her escapades just found a stellar job.
— Fraud around a big EU cash pot reaches astronomical proportions.
METEOR SHOWER OF IDEAS
REGULATE NGOs, DEREGULATE THE REST. Monika Hohlmeier, a German MEP from the European People’s Party, is pushing for a new EU regulation to regulate nongovernmental organizations, my colleague Max Griera has found out. Despite her camp’s broader calls for reducing bureaucracy, Hohlmeier in her proposal argues that NGOs require oversight on issues like revolving doors, transparency in funding, anti-money laundering, foreign interference, whistleblowing and governance. She says these points are critical for any entities receiving EU funds.
No more money if … Hohlmeier asks to “close the loophole in the [EU] Transparency Register whereby NGOs avoid listing their financial supporters by self-declaring that they are only representing their interests or the collective interests of their members.”
She also wants the Commission to get NGOs to cancel contracts “where the unacceptable content [such as lobbying MEPs, organizing mass email campaigns or big demonstrations] accounts for more than 20% of the work packages,” and get NGOs to repay “EU funds used for the unacceptable content.”
What are her chances of success? Quite high, actually. Hohlmeier can count on the support of prominent members of the European People’s Party to back her regulating frenzy, which could also be welcomed by the far right (read our story here on how planets recently aligned on that). Technically speaking, she introduced the idea for regulation in separate amendments to the so-called 2023 budget discharge procedure.
Lead MEPs on this file will come together to discuss compromise amendments on March 12 and 25. The European Parliament’s budgetary control committee is then set to review the amendments, voting on them April 7 and 8. My colleagues from Morning Sustainability have the full details about the likely fight in between.
Even more budget nerd fight: Lawmakers in the budget committee are now fighting with Hohlmeier and her colleagues to expand their investigation of contracts the European Commission made with beneficiaries of EU funds. The new list, obtained by my colleague Max Griera, now includes contracts ranging from 2019 to 2024, and going way beyond NGOs working on environmental matters — which was the first target. Due to a political push led by the Greens, it now includes companies receiving EU funding such as oil giant Shell, automaker Volkswagen, consultancy Ramboll as well as trade association BusinessEurope.
The full list: The parliamentarians have also requested to see contracts under a wide range of programs, such as the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund; and the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Program; and the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Program. The full list is here for our subscribers.
And these are the targeted NGOs:
infographic
STARS ALIGN FOR PERNILLE WEISS-EHLER
GUESS WHO’S BACK? Whatever her critics might think of her, even her harshest has to admit that Pernille Weiss is nothing if not persistent. Now, some six months since her mandate in the European Parliament ended, the Dane is back in Brussels — this time in the Berlaymont, our colleague Carlo Martuscelli writes in.
Hugs and kisses: The reveal came from Jessika Roswall. Sweden’s commissioner for the environment published an Instagram story warmly welcoming, with two exclamation marks, Weiss — actually now Weiss-Ehler after her marriage to German MEP Christian Ehler — to her team.
#Girlboss: Weiss made something of a name for herself in the last mandate. There’s the adviser who simultaneously worked as a lobbyist; the deselection from her national party after bullying complaints; and the sensitive pharma report that went missing from a panel she sat on with her then-boyfriend/now-husband.
Scandi solidarity: None of that put Roswall off from bringing Weiss back into the EU institutional fold. Both politicians hail from Scandinavia and belong to the center right. During her time as an EU lawmaker, Weiss snagged some pretty hefty files — including the EU’s pharma reform proposal, suggesting some level of political connections. Who knows, maybe what the competitive circular economy needs is someone well-acquainted with the dark arts of politics.
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ASTRONOMICAL FRAUD
EYEING THAT EU MONEY. It’s a jackpot many are after — from ambitious lobbyists to actual criminals. The EU’s cash pot worth €648 billion and known as the “Recovery and Resilience Facility,” or RRF, is now the center of attention for fraud-busters of the European Public Prosecutors Office. In a new report, EPPO points to an increasing number of cases potentially misusing this EU money — €2.8 billion of it — by corporate entities and, sometimes, criminal organizations.
Matter of access. A crucial aspect of the fraud involves knowledge necessary to navigate the EU funding system. Securing RRF funds involves deep familiarity with EU processes, regulations, and procedures of a bureaucratic nature that create opportunities for those with insider knowledge — often through lobbying channels — to exploit the system.
How they do it: Common fraud tactics across these investigations include submitting false or misleading information, manipulating invoices, and bribing officials to secure funds unlawfully, the report says. In some cases, fraudsters set up or took over companies, submitting fake tax records to fraudulently claim RRF funds, which are then diverted through bank transfer, for instance.
High-ranking public officials have been implicated in some investigations, often linked to corruption or conflicts of interest in awarding contracts or misusing their authority. Organized crime is also involved in large-scale fraud schemes, often spanning multiple territories and involving money laundering to funnel illicit profits to offshore havens. We’ve covered some of this in the past — like spectacularly seized Lamborghini and Rolexes in Italy — although EPPO has not named suspects, and investigations currently ongoing.
Key players: The number of RRF-related investigations only offers a partial view, since it also reveals disparities across member states in terms of crime detection. However, Italy leads by far with 228 cases. Italy is also the biggest recipient of EU funds, having gotten more than €122 billion of RRF disbursements so far, latest data shows. It is followed by Austria with 29 cases (for €1.1 billion disbursed) and Romania with 13 cases (for €9 billion). Strangely enough, zero cases were spotted for big recipients like Germany (€19 billion).
Top sectors: The pattern of fraud is notably concentrated in areas such as digital transformation, green economy, public infrastructure, education and public health.
LUXURY CIRCULARITY
JESSIKA IN PARIS: European Environment Commissioner, Jessika Roswall — previously mentioned above — was in the French capital Thursday to meet with ministers, lawmakers and private sector players for a “roundup of talks” about the topics in her portfolio. She put a special focus on circularity in the textile sector, three people familiar with the details of the visit told Morning Sustainability.
Up top: The Commissioner had a meeting with the French Prime Minister François Bayrou to discuss ongoing international talks about finalizing a global treaty to end plastic pollution. Last week, Roswall also discussed this with India’s environment minister during the College of Commissioners trip.
Focus on textiles: Roswall also had dinner with France’s environment minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher following a lunch with members of the sustainable development and planning committee.
5-star treatment: During her visit, the Commissioner met with the Comité Colbert, an industry group representing the crème de la crème of luxury brands — from Balenciaga to Champagne Ruinart — which “mobilizes the public authorities in Paris and Brussels to defend the specificities of the sector, a champion of French industry” per its website. The comité has recently taken a liking to sustainability and wants to promote the luxury sector as an example of sustainable practice.
Next up: Today, the Commission is visiting La Caserne, a fire-station-turned-innovation-hub focused on sustainable solutions for the fashion and luxury goods industry.
ICYMI
STATE OF THE PRESS. Disinformation, online harassment and spyware were among the top threats to independent media cited in a report published by the Council of Europe’s media freedom platform. Top recommendations include that the Commission holds very large online platforms “legally responsible for putting in place effective measures to protect journalists’ rights, including redress for arbitrary content removal decisions as well as effective measures to deal with online harassment of journalists, in line with the Digital Services Act.” The report called on the Commission to support fact-checking — which major tech platforms have pulled back from — as it combats disinformation with its upcoming Democracy Shield.
European Union politicians who helped shape the bloc’s crackdown on Big Tech are trying to sway United States policymakers who’ve been listening to tech bros like X’s Elon Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. The only problem is, it’s not exactly working. Read Eliza Gkritsi and Max Griera’s story about the EU lawmakers trying to counter tech bro’s Washington lobbying here.
LEFT AGAINST RUD PEDERSEN. Four MEPs from The Left gathered this morning in front of Rud Pedersen’s office to protest the lobbying firm allegedly working for Morocco (contacted, Rud Pedersen was not immediately available to comment). Here is their op-ed about the reasons for their boycott — which is unlikely to have hefty consequences given the size of their group, a lobbyist told us.
QATARGATE’S ECLIPSE AT THE PARLIAMENT. Two Socialist MEPs have been suspended after the Belgian prosecutor’s office asked to revoke their parliamentary immunity to investigate their role in the massive corruption scandal that hit the EU institutions in 2022. More here.
HEADLINES
Western firms say they’re quitting Russia. Where’s the proof? (POLITICO)
Flint Global rejects £120m takeover bid from KKR-backed firm (The Times)
Mehr als 1700 Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler kritisieren CDU und CSU (Der Spiegel)
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INFLUENCERS
DEFENSE
— Manuel Schwab has been appointed vice chairman of the Export Control Committee of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe.
EU INSTITUTIONS/DIPLOMACY
— Alena Mastantuono has been appointed vice president of the European Economic and Social Committee.
INDUSTRY
— Ulrich Adam will be the new director general of technology industry association Orgalim, joining from Spirits Europe.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS & COMMS
— Géraldine Amiel, former Paris bureau chief for Bloomberg, has been appointed senior managing director at FTI Consulting, joining from FGS Global.
— Tomas Vitas has moved up at Teneo, taking on the role of associate director.
— Simona Kohútová joined the European Association of Communications Agencies as a project and communications officer.
— Arnaud Sonnet joined the European Business Summits as partnership associate director.
SUSTAINABILITY
— Suzana Carp leaves her deputy executive director role at Cleantech for Europe to co-found Cleantech for Central and Eastern Europe.
— Rebecca Brown was appointed President and CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law.
TECH
— Lennart Wetzel has joined the EU policy team at Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, moving from Berlin to Brussels while continuing his role as head of public policy for German-speaking countries.
Un grand merci à: Louise Guillot, Max Griera, Giovana Coi, Carlo Martuscelli, Csongor Körömi, Eliza Gkritsi, Marianne Gros, my editors Nathalie Weatherald and Sonya Diehn, our producer Ellen Boonen and David Bowie’s Space oddity.