EU Watchdog Radio
EU Watchdog Radio is a podcast launched by two Brussels-based NGOs, Counter Balance and Corporate Europe Observatory. Each episode explores topics connected to their activities in the EU capital, including efforts to increase transparency of lobbying and debates on public investment that benefits everyone. The show offers an insider perspective on civil society advocacy in Brussels.
Afleveringen
Indemnifying Bayer: a corrupt company who uses corrupt science now wants to be rewarded for fraud
Bayer and its lobby groups are trying to get Congress in the States to indemnify them against lawsuits, giving them complete legal protection. Listen to our brand new episode where CEO’s Nina Holland talks to Naomi Oreskes. Naomi Oreskes is an historian of science, professor at Harvard University, she’s the author or co-author of 8 books, and over 150 articles and essays. She is the co-author, wit
What are Green Public Services and why do we need them?
In this episode, Marilisa Marigliano, Policy Officer at Counter Balance, speaks with Frank Vanaerschot, Director at Counter Balance, about their new briefing on green public services. As Europe faces rising living costs, energy crisis, and climate breakdown, they discuss how public investment can help deliver affordable housing, clean energy, and accessible public transport while accelerating deca
182 out of 184: This is what corporate capture looks like
We need to talk about what deregulation actually means in Brussels right now.It means one commissioner holding 184 meetings with external actors, 182 of them with business groups. It means indigenous Sami reindeer herders in Sweden losing their last migration route to a fast-tracked mine. It means the public funding the polluters' infrastructure while they keep the profits.In this episode of E
When Public Investment Fuels the Arms Race
In this episode, Marilisa Marigliano, Policy and Advocacy Officer at Counter Balance, speaks with Laëtitia Sédou, EU Project Manager at the European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT), about how EU public finance is fuelling the militarisation and boosting the global arms race. Together, they explore how deregulation is reducing safeguards in favour of the military sector, and how major military c
The Pollution Playbook: How industry blocks regulation of toxic chemicals
In this episode, Joana from Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) talks Nina Holland, agribiz researcher and campaigner at CEO, to Rachel Radvany, environmental health campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), and to Olivier De Schutter, legal scholar and university professor specialising in economic and social rights, who served served as the United Nations Special Rapport
Unpacking the European clean industrial agenda
While negotiations for the next EU budget are underway, the European Commission’s plan to set up the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) as the main vehicle to achieve its clean industrial agenda. In today’s episode Marilisa Marigliano talks with Angela Wigger and Rodrigo Fernandez to debunk the InvestEU program, which is set to be the cornerstone of the ECF, raising urgent questions about who ben
The scramble for hydrogen in South Africa
In this episode, Joana and Pascoe, co-directors of Corporate Europe Observatory's new documentary "The scramble for hydrogen in South Africa" talk about the process behind the making of the film. It's a more relaxed and informal episode than usual, where you can get to know the whole truth behind the making of the film, and how you can host your very own screening!
At What Cost? The EU’s Race for Critical Raw Materials in the Global South
In this episode, Isabela Franco and Lora Verheecke from Counter Balance unpack the EU’s growing push for critical raw materials and its implications for the Global South. They discuss the Global Gateway, the Critical Raw Materials Act, the use of public funds to “de-risk” private investments and the lack of meaningful participation for impacted communities and Indigenous people. A concise and crit
There are now more Big Tech lobbyists than MEPs
Do you know how much money Big Tech is spending on lobbying in Brussels? How has this amount been increasing? On what is the money being funnelled to and what can we do about it? Listen to our new episode of the podcast EU Watchdog Radio to find out!
Green Hydrogen or Green Colonialism?
In this episode, Lora Verheecke, Policy Officer at Counter Balance, interviewed Hikma Bachegour, an Assistant Professor in the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fez, Morocco. They highlighted the impacts of European hydrogen projects in Morocco and how it could affect vulnerable communities, women, and gender minorities, who are too often left out of the decision-making process.
New season coming soon!
Stay tuned to a brand new season of EU Watchdog Radio, where new hosts Isabela Franco and Lora Verheecke from Counter Balance join Marcella Via and Joana Louçã from Corporate Europe Observatory.New episodes coming soon!
How trade tariffs and deregulation go hand in hand
Listen to the brand new podcast episode of EU Watchdog Radio, where CEO's campaigner and researcher Kenneth Haar discusses the link between the announced trade tariffs from the USA to the EU and deregulation. He presents the 5 buzzwords that you need to know in order to understand the deregulation agenda of the European Commission.
New GMOs deregulated: The wet dream of the biotech industry coming true
Listen to our new podcast episode, where Nina Holland talks about the intense lobby battle that the biotech industry has been waging to get its new generation of genetic modification techniques excluded from European GMO regulations. GMO stands for genetically modified organisms. This will mean that crops or wild plants made by using this new generation of genetic modification techniques, will no
From Huaweigate to the AI Act: how to bake bias in
Last week, Brussels went reeling under another corruption scandal! This time it's Chinese big tech giant Huawei whose offices just behind the European Parliament have been raided - along with those of 15 former and current MEPs from the EPP and S&D groups. Huawei is, according to the Belgian prosecutors, being investigated for ”active corruption within the European Parliament," includ
EIB in focus: Rethinking Europe's financial future with Yanis Varoufakis
The EU’s financial system operates in the shadows, with institutions like the European Investment Bank (EIB) wielding immense financial power, but who actually benefits? In the latest episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we sit down with Yanis Varoufakis - former Greek Finance Minister, Member of the Greek Parliament, and relentless critic of financial elites - to dissect the EU’s economic machinery.From
The corporate fight against PFAS restriction
What does a lipstick, a non-stick frying pan and Scotchgard have in common? They all contain PFAS, a.k.a., forever chemicals!
In this episode, Vicky Cann, campaigner and researcher at CEO, explains how her huge report "Chemical reaction - Inside the corporate fight against the EU’s PFAS restriction" came to be and what were the most shocking results she unveiled.
It can be read here 👉 h
Meet the Big Meat Lobby
In this last episode of EU watchdog radio of 2024 we dive into the topic of the global power of the Big Meat lobby and how two dozen ultra rich companies dominate the political and policy agenda including at the FAO.
We talk to professor Paul Behrens, climate expert at Oxford university and Caitlin Smith, senior campaigner at Changing Markets Foundation, about the report The new merchants of doubt
Inaction kills - The EU, Gaza, and the arms industry
On Monday 28 October, South Africa submitted a detailed memorial against Israel to the International Court of Justice, seeking to establish that Israel's military actions in Gaza amount to genoc1de.
Unsurprisingly, it was South Africa, a country from the Global South with a past marked by colonisation and brutal apartheid, that stood up against Israel. South Africa was supported by countries such
COP29 HyCOPrisy
After pressuring Azerbaijan to up gas production for export, the EU is using COP29 to greenwash the fossil fuel and its own climate image.
In this episode we talk to Pascoe Sabido, campaigner and researcher at CEO, about his analyse the EU's hypocrisy as its climate goals and upholding human rights are overtaken by energy security demands and greenwashing.
A Commission for investors: public money for private gains
With the launch of the so-called “Investment Commission,” a worrisome agenda takes shape: prioritising supply chains and deregulation while neglecting vital public investment. In an era of renewed austerity, private profit reigns supreme, overshadowing the funds needed for a just transformation and climate goals. Chiara Casati and Frank Vanaerschot dig into the Draghi report, EIB updates, and Comm
The EU's deregulation frenzy: what's at stake?
Double deregulation, competitiveness checks, rule of law or the omnibus law, it can all sound like technocratic gibberish, but they are all pieces of the downward spiral in social standards that are in immediate risk.
But this social dumping is not the only challenge ahead, the same applies to environmental protection. This episode takes us beyond these unpronounceable words to discuss what is rea
Warfare or welfare: the EU's choice
As it prepares to usher in a new era of austerity, the EU is rife with declarations of increased militarisation, coupled with measures to significantly increase European arms spending and strengthen the Union's military capabilities.
In this episode, Laëtitia Sédou of ENAAT looks at the impact of skyrocketing military spending, the powerful influence of arms industry lobbying and the worrying
Teaser to season 2 of EU Watchdog Radio
Hi, and welcome to the new season of EU Watchdog Radio, a podcast by Counter Balance and Corporate Europe Observatory. We changed the podcast a bit!
Stay tuned for the second season of EU Watchdog Radio!
Episode 52: The Alliance Attacking Freedom
During the current and almost over EU legislature, the rise of far-right forces has come hand in hand with the stigmatisation, harassment, and violence against women and LGBTQI+ people.In this episode, Corporate Europe Observatory researcher and campaigner Kenneth Haar unveils the link between ultraconservative US foundations and right-wing forces across Europe. In the crosshairs outstands the All
Episode 51: We won, EU withdraws from Energy Charter Treaty!
In a milestone win for civil society, the EU will withdraw from the climate-wrecking Energy Charter Treaty (or ECT). The ECT was designed in the 1990s to favour industry’s interests, and was a powerful weapon to obstruct the kind of phaseout of fossil fuels needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. It should never have existed in the first place.In this episode of EU Watchdog Radio, Joana Louçã
Episode 50: No gala for the gas lobby
For the first time in seventeen years, the European Gas Conference was cancelled—or, at least, postponed. However, this did not stop CEO from travelling all the way to Vienna to meet with climate activists and campaigners at the People’s Summit, the counter-summit of the Gas Conference.This episode was recorded live in the capital city of Austria. Marcella Via spoke with CEO’s researchers and camp
Episode 49: Time to ban Amazon!
Amazon is a frequent visitor to the EU Parliament. In January alone, it had nine meetings with MEPs. But when it refused to appear before the Employment Committee on a hearing on crucial issues concerning working conditions within its warehouses, it made MEPs from all party groups extremelly angry, and rightly so. On 5 February, MEPs on the European Parliament’s Employment Committee sent an offici
Episode 48: Decoding COP28
Another year, another COP. As the UN climate talks concluded in Dubai, for the first time ever a “transition away from fossil fuels” has been mentioned in the final text, but calling for a win would be a clear overstatement. The text has the oily fingerprints of the fossil fuel lobby all over it. The reality is COP28 is more likely to facilitate a fossil fuel frenzy by cementing false solutions in
Episode 47: Qatargate - one year later, what changed?
It's one year since the Qatargate corruption scandal exploded across the EU institutions and a good time to review if and how things have changed in the Brussels Bubble. In this episode, Joana Louçã talks to Corporate Europe Observatory's researchers Olivier Hoedeman and Vicky Cann.WHO WE AREThis podcast is produced by CEO and Counter Balance. Both NGOs raise awareness on the importance of good go
Episode 46: An EIB for the people
As the European Commission’s current mandate draws to a close, some Commissioner’s are contemplating their next moves. One such politician is current Vice President Margrethe Vestager, who is campaigning to become the next president of the European Investment Bank (EIB). She is one of five potential candidates who will take over from current EIB president Werner Hoyer at the end of this year, with
Episode 45: No political will to curb food speculation
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio Hans van Scharen talks to UN rapporteur on the right to Food Michael Fakhri and Political scientist Yiorgos Vassalos. They discuss rising food prices and hunger, the link with financial markets and the lack of political will to curb the influence of financial speculation with food commodities, which contribute to excessive food prices and thus hunger. Thi
Episode 44: 30 years of EU Single Market
In this new episode of the podcast EU Watchdog Radio, Joana Louçã talks to economist and trade unionist Frank Ey, and to Olivier Hoedeman and Moritz Neujeffski, co-authors of CEO's latest report: 30 Years of EU Single Market: Time to remove the obstacles to social-ecological transformation.This year marks the 30th anniversary of the creation of EU's Single Market, and to mark it, we have just laun
Episode 43: Hunger is a political failure
This is the 43d episode of EU Watchdog Radio where we talk all things food security, food systems and the (often political) violence that is omni-present around the world when it comes to one of our basic needs: food. It ‘s an important year for the global food security debate and the current heated EU political debate on this topic is not looking very promising. The biggest political family EPP d
Episode 42: Qatargate - The tyrant lobby and why transparency matters
Corporate Europe Observatory's researcher Kat Ainger, Olivier Hoedeman and Hans van Scharen talk about the corruption scandal and its’ consequences.This is the 42nd episode of EU Watchdog Radio where we talk all things Qatargate. What the EPP is plotting against civil society, what the problems are with the current EU transparency register and what better examples are used in other countries. CEO
Episode 41: Welcome to LobbyLeaks.eu!
In our brand new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we talk to MEP Paul Tang and to CEO’s Bram Vranken about the new website LobbyLeaks.eu.Welcome to the 41st episode of EU Watchdog Radio where we talk with Dutch MEP Paul Tang and to CEO’s Big Tech researcher Bram Vranken on the website LobbyLeaks.eu.LobbyLeaks.eu has just been launched by CEO and Lobby Control, with the support of several cross-party
Episode 40: EU Global Gateway - development or profit?
The EU Global Gateway has been pitched as the EU’s response to the economic, climate and energy crises engulfing the planet. Yet over a year after the European Commission launched the Gateway, it is still shrouded in secrecy. It is unclear if any new money is actually being made available for international development through the Gateway, or whether the strategy is mainly a PR exercise. Worse stil
Episode 39: COP27 - just Kick Big Polluters Out
Episode 38: Toxic Lobby vs Green Deal
Episode 37: EU Watchdog Radio - Launch of Lobbyfacts
podcast 37 on Launch of Lobbyfacts with Lucy and Vicky Cann
Episode 36: CEO Anniversary - 25 years of fighting corporate power
Welcome to a new summer episode of EU Watchdog Radio. In this episode we will very exceptionally…talk about ourselves, about CEO as a lobby watchdog and dive into how it all started 25 years ago.This year CEO celebrates it’s 25th anniversary albeit in a rather modest way, since at the start of this year the pandemic was still raging, and soon after a war started on the European continent with a su
Episode 35: COVID treatment - People's health vs private profits
In this episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we talk with Olivier Hoedeman, campaigner and researcher at CEO, and Bruno Maia, a doctor and activist.We discuss with Olivier how the EU approached the negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies, what we can get from the documents CEO requested access to, and what was the TRIPS waiver agreed with the World Trade Organisation.Bruno, on the other hand, addr
Episode 34: Ukraine War: Can EU public finance help the rebuild?
In the latest episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we discuss how EU public finance institutions like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) should approach the rebuilding of Ukraine after the war comes to an end.Russia’s hostile invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves across Europe and beyond. The war has forced over 6.8 million people to flee the country, with millions more internally
Episode 33: 1972 - 2022 Is the EU losing historic momentum?
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we discuss some fascinating historical events that helps to understand why the European Union is functions the way it does, and why we have not made enough progress to tackle climate change, despite al the scientific knowledge we have accumulated since at least 1972. This episode is published on the 9th of May for a reason: this is Europe Day and thus we p
Episode 32: Hooked on Gas - EU & the Ukraine War
In this episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we talk about the EU’s dependency on gas, what energy poverty is and in what way it is linked to the Ukraine war. We also discuss the energy alternatives the EU is considering, and what really needs to happen.Europe is facing a crisis of the cost of living and the invasion of Ukraine has exposed its dependency on Russian oil and gas. As the EU continues to im
Episode 31: Ukraine war, food crisis and a toxic lobby
In the latest episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we discuss the linkages between the Ukraine war , the food crisis and subsequent ‘the policy fall-out’. Agrobusiness lobbies and their political allies abuse the crisis to derail and delay the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy.A toxic lobby amplified by conservative politicians was very quick to start, calling for increased food production due to the Ukraine w
Episode 30: Europe’s secret €25 billion stash
In the latest episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we discuss the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), a secretive €25 billion fund created by the European Investment Bank (EIB), ostensibly to help European businesses in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.The fund aims to use the €25 billion invested by the EIB to inject €200 billion into the European economy. Yet while this may sound good in principle, system
Episode 29: Macron's EU vs Transparency & Democracy
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we discuss France, French politics, the role that French President Emmanuel Macron wants to play in the EU and what vision he has for the future of Europe. Disclaimer: the French Presidency of the EU Council which started on 1 January promises a very corporate-driven future of Europe! An EU Presidency prepared in close collaboration with the French corporat
Episode 28: Corona power of Big Pharma & European lies
In this new episode we’ll talk to two experts - Dimitri Eynikel, an expert of Doctors without Borders and CEO-researcher Olivier Hoedeman- on how the EU is dealing with the new phase of the pandemic, with a special focus on the still unresolved unequal access of large parts of the world to Covid-19 vaccines, new medicines and therapeutics. Experts have long warned that if the global population d
Episode 27: COP26 and Net Zero Greenwashing
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we take the temperature of the international Climate conference COP26, that started this week in Glasgow. Activist Greta Thunberg is right by saying and sometime shouting the word ‘Greenwashing’ all over Glasgow. While COP26 in Glasgow was branded by the UK government as the COP where the world should take historic decisions, it seems the UK government has
Episode 26: The European Green Deal - Reclaiming Public Investments for a real Socio-ecological Transformation
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we take a closer look at the European Green Deal (EGD) and in particular how it is being financed. Counter Balance released their latest report on October 20, 2021. In “The European Green Deal: Reclaiming Public Investments for a real Socio-ecological Transformation” Counter Balance shows that the financial basis of the EGD is undersized and wobbly at best
Episode 24: Recovery Watch VS the Great EU Robbery
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we dive into the question on how the European governments are actually spending the billion and billions of EU recovery funds. We focus specifically on France, which is taking over the EU presidency as of 2022 (Under the influence | Corporate Europe Observatory) .The climate movements are preparing for the important climate summit which will take place in G
Episode 25: Big Tech VS EU Democracy
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, we start with a Bang. This podcast deals with the question how the big digital corporations and platforms like Facebook, Google, Amazon and others try to influence European policy making to keep their business models intact.New research by CEO and the colleagues from the German association LobbyControl, shows the incredible lobby firepower of Big Tech. The
Episode 23 Part II: An EU love affair with big pharma
In the second part of this episode we first talk with Dimitri Eynikel, expert of Doctors without Borders who explains why the proposals of the EU to counter or derail the proposal of South-Africa and India, are rather meaningless. Dimitri explains why the proposals of the EU to boost global production and access to vaccines and therapeutics will simply not work and might even take us backwards.
Episode 23 Part I: An EU love affair with big pharma
In this special summer episode we’ll bring you the true story on how the European Union has been dealing with the covid-19 pandemic so far and why the EU seems to have a deep love affair with Big Pharma. In two parts of this podcast several experts will explain that the European Commission – the executive branch of the EU - not only has a very eurocentric way of dealing with the pandemic, but also
Episode 22: EU: social justice or corporate power?
In this new episode of this podcast we put spotlights on the European Union as an economical superpower and how the EU regulates - or not - corporate power. The European way of doing (geo)politics is often described as ‘soft power’. But the impact of European businesses in other parts of the world – as well as in the EU itself - is often not so soft; As corporate behaviour often leads to human rig
Episode 21: Transport vs Climate Change
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we dive into the issue of plains, trains, cars and bicycles aka transport and why this is such a powerful issue in the context of climate change and healthy societies.Since the lockdown many plains stayed on the ground, which from a climate perspective is a good thing. The pandemic learned us that we need to change certain ways in which we live, travel and
Episode 20: Biotech lobby vs the Green Deal
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we dive into the covert lobby tactics used by the biotechnology industry to get a new generation of GMO’s to be used in agriculture, deregulated in the EU. Why are agrochemical companies like Bayer and Corteva so against having European safety rules? And why is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation financing this lobby-campaign? A few decades ago some agr
Episode 19: Climate urgency and false solutions
This new episode of EU Watchdog Radio is dedicated to the Global Climate strike on Friday the 19th of March; Two experts talk about how the current proposed climate policies are too much oriented towards market based solutions and influenced by the same industry that created climate change: the fossil fuel companies.In the year 2021, we have started the last decade we have to take urgent climate a
Episode 18: Energy Charter Treaty vs Climate Urgency
In this new episode of EU Watchdog Radio we dive into one of the biggest examples of ‘cognitive dissonance’ in recent history. Every (European) policymaker knows by now that fossil fuels should stay in the ground, but yet they keep defending the EU’s membership of a treaty that defends fossil fuel investments: the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).We’ll be talking with Pia Eberhardt , campaigner and exp
Episode 17: Lobbying Frontex for Fortress Europe
In this new episode we dive into the incredible story on how Fortress Europe is being constructed by a European agency called the ‘European Border and Coast Guard Agency’ AKA Frontex, almost in the dark and without any democratic oversight. With billions of EU taxpayer’s money and the help of dozens of lobbyists from defense, arms and surveillance technology industries, Frontex is creating a world
Episode 16: Private vs Public healthcare
Pandemic, austerity, privatisation and the urgency of an honest debate on health care policy.In this first new episode of 2021, we dive into the topic that is unfortunately still on everyone's mind each and every day: the raging pandemic. Our main focus is why were /are health care systems in many countries under such pressure when dealing with Covid-19? From hospitals to care homes, the outsourc
Episode 15: Hydrogen hype vs climate
Listen to CEO-researcher Belen Balanya who published a report on the 'Hydrogen Hype' and why this trojan horse of the gas industry is not a climate solution, making the EU Green Deal a grey deal.
Episode 14: Black Rocking the Green Deal
‘Black rocking the European Green Deal’ is the title of this fourteenth episode, in which CEO researcher Kenneth Haar and Jana Leutner researcher at Change Finance, discuss the Blackrock scandal. Together they published a report called “The BlackRock Model”, in which they uncover the scale of the blunder of the European Commission by granting a contract to BlackRock to give advice on ‘sustainable
Episode 13: Can the EIB become the EU Development Bank?
In this new EU Watchdog Radio episode, Xavier Sol, director at Counter Balance discusses the role of the European Investment Bank (EIB) outside of Europe and the bank’s intention to become the ‘EU Development Bank’.A new report published by Counter Balance and CEE Bankwatch Network however shows that the Bank is not yet fit for the task. The report titled 'Can the EIB become the 'EU Development
Episode 12: Common Agricultural Policy VS Farm2Fork
In this new EU Watchdog episode CEO-researcher Nina Holland explains why and how it is possible that the European Parliament and ministers of Agriculture decided this week - under influence of the powerful agrochemical lobby to go for the destructive status quo on European agriculture.Nina Holland, researcher at CEO, main author of a very recent CEO-report on the Agrochemical lobby explains how a
Episode 11: Covid-19, vaccines, Big Pharma’s lobby and the quest for transparency
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
Episode 10: An EU Love Affair with Fossil Fuel
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 p
Episode 9: EU Green Deal or Grey Deal?
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. Excludin
Episode 8: EU Climate Bank - Greenwashing or Banking Revolution?
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
Episode 7: Tainted Love - corporate lobbying and the German EU Presidency
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 preven
Episode 6: In the name of innovation
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 hav
Episode 5: Can we trust financial institutions to manage climate change?
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 bei
Episode 4: Good ways out of the corona crisis?
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
Episode 3: Logistics of globalisation - is this the world we want?
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 e
Episode 2: EU/US Trade Deal VS Green Deal
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 pro
Episode 1: Challenging Public Investment Banks
EU Watchdog Radio is a new podcast hosted jointly by two Brussels based organisations Counter Balance (CB) and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO).In the very first episode Xavier Sol of Counter Balance discusses how the European Union is planning to finance the Green Deal and the role played by the transformation of the European Investment Bank (EIB) into the so-called ‘EU Climate Bank’. Is this r
