Latest news with #AlbertoAlemanno
Euronews
4 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Campaigners seek to ground ‘passenger-hostile' EU proposal
A new citizens' initiative is now collecting signatures to reverse what campaigners call a 'passenger-hostile' EU proposal — one they say would cost air travellers across Europe money, time, and rights. "After over a decade of legislative impasse, EU governments are worsening the rights of EU passengers, and we intend to enable Europeans to speak out and against this," professor Alberto Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby and one of the petition's organisers, told Euronews. While such an initiative doesn't force the Commission to draft new laws, it does require a formal response within six months — including an explanation if it chooses not to act. Under current EU rules, passengers can claim between €250 and €600 in compensation for delays of at least three hours. That may soon change. After 12 years of political deadlock, a slim majority of EU countries recently backed raising the delay threshold to between four and six hours, while cutting compensation for long-haul flights (over 3,500 km) by €100. The plan still needs approval from both the European Commission and the European Parliament — and MEPs across the political spectrum have already voiced strong opposition. "People must always come first before profit, and this is no exception," said Dutch S&D MEP Mohammed Chahim. "People are not asking air companies for a favour – they pay good money for the services and when these services are not delivered people deserve proper treatment and reasonable compensation." The European Consumer Association (BEUC) warned that the higher thresholds would block most EU passengers from claiming compensation, since most delays fall between two and four hours. But Airlines for Europe (A4E) — representing carriers such as Ryanair, easyJet, and Lufthansa — argues the reform would make passenger rights 'clearer' and 'easier' to enforce. "Today, airlines are often forced to cancel flights they could otherwise operate with a delay, because short delays trigger compensation," its managing director, Ourania Georgoutsakou, told Euronews in an emailed statement. "Most people want to reach their destination, not wait around for a payout." The European Commission's original plan involved increasing the time threshold from three to five hours for short-haul flights, and from three to nine hours for long-haul flights. 'Our analysis shows that this change alone could prevent up to 70% of avoidable cancellations across Europe,' Georgoutsakou said, adding that it would help airlines recover schedules faster, reduce knock-on delays, and avoid unnecessary cancellations. Parliament has until early October to present its counter-position — in response to the Council, which in June skipped its usual informal talks with MEPs and adopted a legally binding stance. 'We cannot allow the member states to undermine the hard-won rights of air passengers,' MEP Andrey Novakov (Bulgaria/EPP), leading negotiator on the file, said after the Council adopted its position in June. 'Weakening these rights would betray the trust that citizens have placed in the EU to defend their interests," Novakov concluded.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Are European Citizens' Initiatives missing the mark?
Would you like to see a Europe without animal testing? Guarantee legal and safe access to abortion? Or eliminate toxic pesticides from the environment? Collect one million signatures in a year, and you'll get the chance to help shape the EU's agenda. That's the promise behind the European Citizens' Initiatives (ECI)—an official participatory democracy tool launched in 2012 to give citizens a direct say in policymaking. But 12 years on, the numbers suggest a disconnect: 144 initiatives launched, only 10 received a formal response from the European Commission. It begs the question: is this tool truly empowering citizens, or has it turned into a digital suggestion box collecting dust? According to Professor Alberto Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby, ECI are 'a potentially revolutionary mechanism'—but one that has struggled to gain traction. 'The ECI remain little known and underused (...) Of these 121 registered initiatives, only 14 reached the one million signature threshold, representing a success rate of nearly 12%,' he told Euronews. European Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho agrees that the idea behind ECI is powerful — but says it hasn't lived up to expectations. 'We need to improve communication about its purposes and functions. Awareness campaigns must be strengthened so that citizens are fully informed about what an ECI can and cannot do, and take action,' she said in June. Since 2019, the number of initiatives registered has been going down. But transparency advocates like The Good Lobby expect a potential comeback — as civil society loses access to power and faces increasing pressure across the EU. 'Don't you worry, citizen': The Commission says all is well Far from any self-criticism, the Commission does not consider that this mechanism is not working effectively, nor does it propose any kind of review or reform of it. In fact, its spokesperson Olof Gill believes that ECI is an instrument that allows citizens to influence the EU's agenda and work— one that has already yielded tangible results. 'Several legislative acts triggered by successful ECI already apply, such as the revised Drinking Water directive, the regulation on the transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain, and the Nature Restoration law,' Gill told Euronews. Over recent years, the Commission has also announced a roadmap with a set of legislative and non-legislative actions to phase out animal testing for chemical safety assessments, improved shark trade monitoring, and is currently studying a potential ban on sales and trade of loose shark fins, to name but a few. More generally, the Commission's spokesperson said that the citizens' initiatives can drive discussions and the direction of policies at EU level. Still, campaigners and civil society groups remain frustrated by the Commission's slow — or at times absent — follow-up, warning it could undermine both the tool itself and the EU's credibility. "Our End the Cage Age ECI mobilised over 1.4 million people to call for an end to keeping farmed animals in cages, and the European Commission committed doing so [by the end of 2023]. However, six years on, we're still waiting," said Eloise Shavelar, global head of campaigns and advocacy at Compassion in World Farming. In response to the delay, petitioners have taken the matter to the EU's top court. "The upcoming ruling by the European Court of Justice will determine whether ECIs are an effective tool," Shavelar added. The EU executive told Euronews that the work is still underway, but gave no timeline for when the draft proposal might be published, nor any explanation for the delay. 'The Commission is now carefully assessing important aspects to design a well-balanced approach to reply to societal demands and to ensure the transition to cage-free farming is sustainable and economically viable for the agricultural sector and for our food systems,' a spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Euronews. More recent ECIs have pushed for an EU-wide ban on conversion therapy and new legislation to prevent and reduce the impact of extremism, especially on the single market. The Commission is also drafting a response to a call for stronger protection of Europe's regional cultural identities.
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Public affairs firms in Europe enable pollution by lobbying for big oil, says analysis
A handful of 'small but dirty' public affairs and law firms in Europe are enabling pollution by lobbying extensively for big oil, an analysis has found, with most major companies in the industry working for at least one fossil fuel client. Several of the top spenders on activities to influence EU policymaking are on the payroll of oil and gas companies, according to an analysis of the EU Transparency Register by the Good Lobby nonprofit, but fossil fuel clients represent just 1% of the industry's revenue. The researchers said it showed that public affairs companies could cut ties with the big polluters who pay them to influence policy without hurting their bottom lines – but warned there was little public or regulatory pressure on lobbyists to go green. Alberto Alemanno, the founder of the Good Lobby and a co-author of the research, said public affairs companies lobbying on behalf of the fossil fuel industry had flown under the radar. 'They can afford to keep [these clients] – even though they bring in very little – because they have basically not been subject to any form of accountability.' In the first comprehensive review of lobbying firms working for oil and gas companies, which was shared exclusively with the Guardian, the researchers created a database of public affairs and law firms, as well as their clients, using disclosures made on the EU transparency register before January 2024. They tallied the midpoint of the lobbying costs, which the register publishes only in ranges, to estimate the amount of money each company receives from fossil fuel clients. The list does not include fossil fuel industry groups or secondary polluters, such as airlines and carmakers. Some of the companies have deepened their ties with big oil over the last year, according to checks conducted by the Guardian using disclosures made as of April 2025. Several have also made public sustainability commitments that appear to contrast with the actions of their clients, such as energy companies who have scrapped climate targets or shown little progress towards reducing emissions. Burson, Cohn & Wolfe, a public affairs company, is listed as having taken €600,000-699,999 from ExxonMobil Petroleum and Chemical in 2024 for lobbying services on several environment files. Burson says on its website 'we help energy clients navigate the transition toward sustainable progress'. Another company, FTI Consulting, is listed as having taken €300,000-399,999 from ConocoPhillips and €50,000-99,999 from ExxonMobil in 2023, the latest year for which it has disclosed clients. Its latest sustainability report says: 'FTI Consulting's role as a professional services firm allows us to support a sustainable economy – both through our internal initiatives and the work we do on behalf of our clients.' A third company, Nove, is listed as having taken €100,000-199,999 from ExxonMobil and €100,000-199,999 from Equinor in 2024, as well as smaller sums from ENI, TotalEnergies and SNAM. A case study on Nove's website says it helped a client prevent the European Commission from banning 'critical chemicals' in a regulatory proposal to reduce climate-damaging fluorinated gas emissions. It says: 'We brought our client's position and demonstrative data to the attention of the co-legislators, successfully creating room for an exemption for safe closed-loop use of fluorinated gases without economically or chemically viable substitutions.' The researchers said they wanted to shine a light on enablers of pollution who provide services for the fossil fuel industry but escape public attention. Similar efforts have helped spur change in the advertising industry, with the Clean Creatives movement covering more than 1,300 agencies who openly refuse to work with fossil fuel clients. Duncan Meisel, the executive director of Clean Creatives, said dropping fossil clients was a smart business strategy for public affairs firms because it would help them advocate for all companies in their portfolio – including those that would be hit hard by climate breakdown. It would also help them attract and retain talent, such as young graduates who see the climate crisis as an existential threat, and avoid potential crackdowns by regulators, he added. Public affairs firms are just one avenue by which energy companies seek to sway European policymakers. Many of the biggest players employ large teams of lobbyists in Brussels or work through well-connected industry associations that have the ear of EU officials and ministers in national governments. As a result, a naming-and-shaming campaign may only have limited effect on climate policy, industry insiders say. Fossil fuel companies have already made efforts to develop lobbying capabilities in-house, and a climate-driven rift in the industry would probably drive those that have not yet done so to the lobbying firms that choose to continue working with them. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion But such a shift would still make it more difficult for polluters to stand in the way of climate action, said Meisel. 'Even if fossil fuel companies completely in-house their lobbying, they'll have to pull from a dwindling pool of talent that is not interested in devoting their whole careers to polluters. 'Generally speaking, fossil fuel companies are not high-prestige clients. They don't win awards, they don't get listed prominently on resume sites, and they don't offer a long-term career path. Polluter agencies will be the agencies with less talent and less impact, and likely higher fees.' Some of the public affairs companies highlighted in the analysis disagreed with the characterisation of their clients as fossil-based. Aula Europe, which is listed as having taken €100,000-199,999 from Neste between April 2022 and March 2023, said its client had transformed from 'a local oil refiner into a global leader in renewable and circular solutions'. 'Aula's public affairs work with Neste has focused on renewable energy and EU decarbonisation policies relevant to this transformation,' said Henri Satuli, a lobbyist at Aula Europe. Must and Partners, which is listed as having taken €50,000-99,999 from the Italian energy company A2A in 2024, provided a statement from A2A that disputed its classification as a fossil fuel company, stating: 'In 2024, renewables accounted for approximately 50% of the group's total electricity production, highlighting A2A's concrete progress toward a cleaner energy model.' The other public affairs businesses named in the analysis – along with Hill and Knowlton, Weber Shandwick, Rud Pedersen, FleishmanHillard and Eupportunity – did not respond to a request for comment. Dieter Zinnbauer, a researcher and adviser to the Good Lobby, said it was telling that many of the public affairs firms highlighted in the analysis focused their public sustainability statements around actions to reduce their direct carbon footprint. 'It's one thing to recycle toner cartridges in your office, that's great,' he said. 'But if your main business line is about helping put the world on the wrong track towards the energy transition, this is more consequential in terms of what you're doing than the recycling you do on the side.'
Euronews
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Huawei lobbyists barred temporarily from the European Parliament
Huawei lobbyists were banned from entering the European Parliament's premises on Friday, following allegations of bribery linked to the Chinese company's lobbying activities in the Chamber. 'The Parliament decided, as a precautionary measure, to suspend the access to Parliament of representatives attached to the Huawei company with immediate effect,' a Parliament spokesperson told Euronews. The ban is temporary and will remain in place until the authorities conclude their investigation. It relates to Parliamentary premises in Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg and across all the liaison offices in the 27 EU countries. The decision followed Thursday's searches carried out by the Federal Police in the Brussels-Capital Region as well as in Flanders, Wallonia and also in Portugal. Several individuals have been arrested for questioning in connection with their alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office said. According to the preliminary investigation, corrupt practices may have occurred regularly and discreetly from 2021, under the guise of commercial lobbying, and taking various forms: remuneration for the adoption of political positions, expensive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches. Nine Huawei employees are accredited to enter Parliament's premises, according to the EU Transparency Register. The latest investigations centred on the European Parliament, this time related to Chinese tech giant Huawei, show that the EU's current ethics system is not fit for the job, according to EU policy expert Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law at HEC in Paris. In 2022, the European Parliament proposed a 14-point action plan in the wake of a cash-for-influence scandal, but it's yet to be implemented. At the time, MEPs and assistants were under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes to act in the interest of foreign actors like Qatar and Morocco. This week once more Belgian investigators searched homes and Huawei's Brussels headquarters on suspicion that the Chinese company paid MEPs to influence legislation in the European Parliament. Huawei denies any wrongdoing. Currently, enforcement of the lobbying rules is in the hands of the European Parliament and other European institutions, which basically means that there is a self-policing system, Alemanno said in an interview with Euronews. "By design, the system is not working and is designed not to work, because there are no political incentives for the president in the European Parliament, who is also a political party member to enforce those rules, because if those are enforced, one, they could also be enforced against their political party. And I think this is really what explains why the current European ethics system is not fit for the job," he said. According to Alemanno, sitting and former MEPs are still able to peddle influence in the current environment. "The members of the European Parliament today are still allowed to have side jobs so they can be members of the European Parliament, but also lawyers, lobbyists and advocate for different kind of causes in society that put them in a situation of conflict of interest," he said. Indeed Alemanno blames the large political parties in the EU for watering down legislation. The Parliament decided to establish an ethics body, he said, but it's still not functioning. However, despite the repeated corruption and transparency scandals, Alemanno does not think the EU's reputation is put at risk. "It's very easy to qualify the European Union as a whole, as a very corrupt organisation, but in reality, even these scandals prove the opposite," he said. "It's not the European Union per se a corrupt institution, but some of the members, a very few members of the European Parliament, which is one of the institutions, have been lending themselves to a possible attempt of corruption," he said.
Euronews
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
EU Parliament ethics system 'not fit for the job'
The latest investigations centred on the European Parliament, this time related to Chinese tech giant Huawei, show that the EU's current ethics system is not fit for the job, according to EU policy expert Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law at HEC in Paris. In 2022, the European Parliament proposed a 14-point action plan in the wake of a cash-for-influence scandal, but it's yet to be implemented. At the time, MEPs and assistants were under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes to act in the interest of foreign actors like Qatar and Morocco. This week once more Belgian investigators searched homes and Huawei's Brussels headquarters on suspicion that the Chinese company paid MEPs to influence legislation in the European Parliament. Huawei denies any wrongdoing. Currently, enforcement of the lobbying rules is in the hands of the European Parliament and other European institutions, which basically means that there is a self-policing system, Alemanno said in an interview with Euronews. "By design, the system is not working and is designed not to work, because there are no political incentives for the president in the European Parliament, who is also a political party member to enforce those rules, because if those are enforced, one, they could also be enforced against their political party. And I think this is really what explains why the current European ethics system is not fit for the job," he said. According to Alemanno, sitting and former MEPs are still able to peddle influence in the current environment. "The members of the European Parliament today are still allowed to have side jobs so they can be members of the European Parliament, but also lawyers, lobbyists and advocate for different kind of causes in society that put them in a situation of conflict of interest," he said. Indeed Alemanno blames the large political parties in the EU for watering down legislation. The Parliament decided to establish an ethics body, he said, but it's still not functioning. However, despite the repeated corruption and transparency scandals, Alemanno does not think the EU's reputation is put at risk. "It's very easy to qualify the European Union as a whole, as a very corrupt organisation, but in reality, even these scandals prove the opposite," he said. "It's not the European Union per se a corrupt institution, but some of the members, a very few members of the European Parliament, which is one of the institutions, have been lending themselves to a possible attempt of corruption," he said. Closed shops, bread lines, neighborhoods reduced to rubble for over a decade, residents recovering from years of war and trauma — this is what Human Rights Watch researchers saw on recent visits to Damascus, our first in 15 years. While Syrians spoke of their hopes for a better future following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government in December, fear was also palpable, particularly among minorities and those vulnerable to retaliation, and they left with a sense of foreboding about what could be coming next. The country's political and economic collapse, the proliferation of armed groups, and the sheer scale of devastation would be daunting enough. Now, mass summary killings and atrocities in the coastal region have made it clear that the road ahead is even more perilous. Without urgent international action, Syria risks sliding into renewed cycles of violence and instability. Europe is uniquely placed to support Syrians' aspirations for justice and respect for human rights. But its timing and level of ambition will be key. This should be the European Union's message at the Brussels Conference on Syria next Monday. Given the violence and atrocities since last Thursday, it is a matter of utmost urgency for the international community, including Europe, to take steps to ensure the protection of civilians by providing technical and financial support to build a responsible, accountable, disciplined security sector and judiciary that upholds the rule of law. The EU should also engage with authorities to ensure that independent investigators, including international mechanisms and civil society groups, can do their job properly and without obstacles. Cooperation with the UN Commission of Inquiry and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, including permission for them to open offices in Syria, would be key first steps. The EU is also well-placed to provide support and expertise to lay the groundwork for credible, comprehensive transitional justice and accountability processes, and to encourage authorities to join the International Criminal Court. The EU should also actively address other sources of tensions, including in the northeast with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, with which an integration agreement into Syria's institutions was signed on Monday, and effectively press Israel to refrain from violations and threats of abuses in southwest Syria. Addressing these foundational problems is only part of the challenge to achieve lasting stability. Syrians also face an economic collapse of staggering proportions. Driving through Damascus – and knowing conditions are even harsher beyond the capital – offered a stark reminder of the devastation years of conflict and oppression have wrought. With 90% of Syrians living below the poverty line and half of the population unable to access or afford enough quality food, the scale of humanitarian need is overwhelming. Western countries should realise that continued international sanctions are hampering Syria's recovery and Syrians' access to basic services. The EU's recent suspension of sanctions in some key sectors, like energy and transport, and easing of those on its financial sector, has been a good step but more is needed. The EU should urgently lead efforts to prevent over-compliance with sanctions that harm ordinary Syrians and assess the impact of remaining EU sanctions, including on banking and dual-use materials, on Syrians' economic and social rights. The EU should also offer a very clear and public roadmap to Syrian authorities on the steps needed to lift remaining sanctions. Finally, the EU should closely coordinate and press other sanctioning entities, especially the US, to follow suit. While it might be tempting to use sectoral sanctions as political leverage, they are not the most effective or fair tool for supporting Syrians' aspirations for justice and recovery. Especially without specific benchmarks, such sanctions risk becoming a blunt instrument that prolongs suffering rather than fosters positive and meaningful change. Meanwhile, discussions by Human Rights Watch team in Damascus revealed limited space for civil society to operate in Syria, affecting both groups providing aid or willing to play a role in the country's transition. Colleagues told us about restrictions and administrative obstacles to their work, including re-registration and other requirements that resemble those in place under al-Assad. More openness to the work of independent groups should be a key message for the EU to articulate. The EU should also make commitments to those who found protection in Europe or who may still seek it out. EU ministers have rightly supported allowing Syrian refugees to undertake go-and-see-visits without losing their legal status. The Commission and every member state should make allowing these visits a priority. The fall of al-Assad brought a mixture of hope and uncertainty for millions of Syrians at home or in exile. If the EU and its members are truly committed to helping Syrians to break with decades of repression and impunity, they should redouble and speed up efforts to assist Syria and make it clear to Syrians they will support their rights and well-being. Philippe Dam is EU Director, Advocacy, at Human Rights Watch.
