Brussels competes with Washington D.C. for the title of lobbying capital in the world. An estimated 15 000 professional lobbyists roam in the corridors of the EU institutions in Brussels.

The vast majority (over 70 %) of these lobbyists represent corporate interests. They work for a broad range of companies and organisations involved in corporate lobbying: public relations companies, public affairs consultancies, law firms, corporate associations, like the European employers´ association, UNICE or the "EU Affairs" offices of transnational corporations. According to a report issued by the European Parliament, some 950 business interest groups are represented in Brussels, along with about 300 multinational corporations.

Only 10 % of all Brussels lobbyists work for citizens organisations, including trade unions, public heath organisations, consumers unions and environmental groups, while another 20 % represent regions, cities and international institutions.

The corporate side is well represented
On the side of the overwhelming corporate majority, there are sectoral lobby groups for almost every industry imaginable. From the tiny office of the European Watercooler Association, to the enormous office building providing space for the 140 employees of the chemical industry federation CEFIC. Public affairs firms like APCO, Burson-Marsteler, Hill & Knowlton, GPC and Weber Shandwick employ over a thousend thousand people in Brussels. They work for industry groups and companies that can afford to pay them.

The aim of corporate lobbying
Often the aim of corporate lobbying is to postpone, weaken or even completely block progress in the EU social, environmental and consumer protections. Effective and professional counter-campaigns by citizens organisations can help prevent corporate lobby campaigns from winning a victory, but in the 'Brussels bubble' corporate lobby campaigns often pass by unnoticed and virtually unchallenged.

One of the major corporate lobbying campaigns going on right now is waged by the chemical industry, in opposition to the European Commissions's proposal for the Registrations, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH). According to the original proposal, the chemical industry would be obliged to demonstrate the safety of their products before they are brought on the market. As a result of the chemicals industry's massive anti-REACH campaign, the European commission has already significantly weakened testing and licensing requirements in the proposal, while many loopholes for toxic chemicals are left in place. The final legislation is scheduled to be adopted by the European Parliament in 2005.

In an open letter to incoming European President José Manuel Barrosso, a broad coalition of non-governmental organisations from all over Europe is calling for the introduction of binding EU rules on transparency and ethics for lobbyists at the EU institutions, as a first step to curb excessive influence of corporate lobby groups over EU polices.

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Written by Erik Wesselius at Corporate Europe Observatory, January 2005.