Worst EU lobbyists 2010 revealed: RWE, Goldman Sachs and ISDA
02 December 2010by eub2 -- last modified 02 December 2010
RWE (npower), Goldman Sachs and derivatives lobby group ISDA have been given the dubious honour of being named the Worst EU Lobbyists of 2010. The results of the dual climate and finance categories of the Worst EU Lobbying Awards 2010 were revealed today during a ceremony outside the ISDA office in Brussels.
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Citizens across Europe participated in an online public vote for
the most deserving of the climate and finance nominees. Voters
sent a clear message to EU transparency and ethics Commissioner
Maroš Šefčovič that a major clean-up of the Brussels lobbying
scene is urgently needed, and it’s time the European Commission
put public interest above the commercial interests of large
companies.
In the climate category, German energy giant RWE’s subsidiary
npower, nominated for claiming to be green while lobbying to keep
its dirty coal- and oil-fired power plants open, won with 58% of
the total vote. BusinessEurope, nominated for its aggressive
lobbying to block effective climate action in the EU while
claiming to support action to protect the climate, took second
place with 24% of the total votes and Arcelor-Mittal, the steel
Industry “fat cat”, came in third with 18% of the total votes.
Nina Katzemich, speaking for the organisers of the 2010 Worst EU
Lobbying Awards, said: "These awards show that people around
Europe are fed up with deceptive lobbying practices used by big
business when it comes to climate regulation. RWE claims to be
green but has pulled out all the stops to keep its dirty power
plants open, promoting their profits over public interests. If the
European Commission is serious about tackling climate change, it
must stop listening one-sidedly to corporations. It can make a new
start – now, in Cancun.”
In the finance category, Goldman Sachs and derivatives lobby
group ISDA, nominated for aggressive lobbying to defend their
‘financial weapons of mass destruction’, took first place with 59%
of the total vote. Royal Bank of Scotland (23%) took second,
nominated for secretly lobbying in Brussels and for exploiting
insider contacts. Hedge funds and private equity lobby groups AIMA
and EVCA (18%) took third, nominated for deceptive lobbying to
block regulation of damaging speculation in the financial sector.
Paul de Clerck, speaking for the organisers of the 2010 Worst EU
Lobbying Awards, said: “Despite the unprecedented crisis following
the financial meltdown, intense lobbying by large banks and
investment firms continues to delay and seriously water-down
much-needed regulatory reforms. While people around the world are
suffering severe consequences, corporate lobbyists are blocking
any measure that could limit the massive profits of banks. This is
unacceptable. We call on the European Commission to put an end to
the privileged access granted to big business, for instance
limiting their access to EU advisory groups on future financial
regulation.”
The awards are part of an ongoing campaign to expose and counter
dirty lobbying tactics and privileged access impacting on EU
decision-making. For more information about this year’s nominees,
and to follow future developments, please visit: www.worstlobby.eu
The Worst EU Lobbying Awards 2010 are organised by Friends of the Earth Europe, Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl, Spinwatch.
Friends of the Earth Europe