In this new episode, after a long summer break we dive into the topic that is unfortunately still on everyone's mind each and every day: the raging pandemic. Our main question: when will there be a vaccine? The second question: who controls the development of those vaccines? And who protects the general interest or public health against the problematic,profit-maximising business-models rampant in Big Pharma? Three experts (Olivier Hoedeman, Yannis Natsis and Ellen ‘t Hoen) provide the an...

In this tenth episode, German investigative reporter Harald Schumann describes how and why many EU member states seem to still have a crush on fossil fuels. Despite the overwhelming knowledge and practical evidence of the effects of climate change, governments keep subsidizing the use of fossil fuels. Schumann and his colleagues from the pan-European journalistic platform Investigate Europe just published a series of articles that exposes this ridiculous and counter-productive policy of Europ...

In this ninth episode, Belén Balanyá and Lala Hakuma Dadci both researcher and campaigner at Corporate Europe Observatory, take a step back and have a critical look at what is currently happening with the EU flagship project the EU Green Deal (EGD).The EGD could be one of the most important and hopeful EU policy initiatives. It is testimony to civil society and citizens movement's impact. Excluding public investment funds to fossil fuel industries is key to foster a sustainable and just trans...

In this eighth episode, Clara Bourgin, research and policy assistant at Counter Balance digs into the recent commitments taken by the Europe Investment Bank (EIB) – the lending arm of the European Union - to become the “EU Climate Bank”.Back in November 2019, the EIB took the groundbreaking decision to phase out its support to fossil fuels and to align all its operations with the objectives of the Paris Agreement by the end of 2020. As a result, expectations around the EIB are high. Stil...

In this seventh episode Vicky Cann, researcher and campaigner at Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and Nina Katzemich EU Campaigner at LobbyControl dig into so called the green credentials of the German government. They explain how the German Government’s ‘love affair’ with gas and the unconditional support for its automobile sector are two clear cut examples of how its EU Presidency risks preventing effective climate action by the EU.A week ago CEO and LobbyControl published a new report “T...

EU Watchdog Radio is a new podcast hosted jointly by Corporate EuropeObservatory (CEO) and Counter Balance. In the sixth episode MartinPigeon, researcher and campaigner at CEO and Marine Ejuryan, Advocacymanager at ‘Global Health Advocates’ (GHA) explain the content of twoin-depth and damning reports they just published; These reports areabout how, in the name of innovation, industrial lobbies have managed tocontrol the use of at least 3.7 billion of euro in European publicresearch funds.For ...

EU Watchdog Radio is a new podcast hosted jointly by Counter Balance and CEO. In the fifth episode, we talk with two experts from civil society organisations about the role of big financial institutions or companies in the economic recovery and Green Deal. Red line: there is enough money to finance climate proof and socially just change, but we need more scrutiny of how and where that money is being used.Xavier Sol from Counter Balance talks about the problems the European Investment Bank (EI...

EU Watchdog Radio is a new podcast hosted jointly by Counter Balance and CEO. In the fourth episode, we talk with five experts from civil society organisations about the Covid-19 crisis. The virus as an X-ray: it brings various societal problems that already existed to light. Laura Ulman from Greenpeace, Olivier Hoedeman and Margarida Silva from CEO, Xavier Sol from Counter Balance and Tove Maria Ryding from Eurodad all highlight a different aspect of the unprecedented crisis that we ar...

In the third episode of EU Watchdog Radio Nicholas Hildyard, UK based researcher and activist of the NGO, The Corner House, gives some fascinating insights in the world of logistics. A world that we all benefit from, but know very little about. Hildyard, who just published a new report with Counter Balance, states that we are all being 'logisticized' without even realizing it. The relatively new economic sector called 'logistics management' is now one of the biggest employers globally, s...

In this second episode Nina Holland and Kenneth Haar, both researchers from the Brussels-based lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), analyze the ongoing negotiations on a EU-US trade deal and what impact this ‘TTIP-light’ could have on the so called European Green Deal. This Green Deal is the alpha and omega of the new European Commission under president Ursula von der Leyen, that promises to EU citizens for it to be an ambitious package of new policies to steer various economica...