Corporate Europe Observatory
Budget
€1,151,596
EP Access
0
accredited persons
Staff
12
5.35 FTE
EU Grants
None
Mission & Goals
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making. Corporate Europe Observatory is strongly committed to transparency about EU lobbying. CEO believes that the Transparency Register fails basic transparency standards and does not yet live up to its name. We support a legally-binding register, stronger safeguards against inaccurate reporting, and the publication of the names of all individual interest representatives. We regret that the 2021 register revamp no longer requires NGOs and think tanks to submit a figure for an annual lobby spend. We will continue to provide such a figure in the notes below. We also regret that the names of individual lobbyists can no longer be provided.
EU Legislative Interests
- The Commission work programmes: 2025, 2026 - Implementation of EU Transparency Register & ethics rules for Commissioners, EU officials, and MEPs - Transparency of covert interference by third countries and the 'Defence of Democracy package' - 2024-29 EU strategic agenda - February 2025 Communication: The road to the next multiannual financial framework - EU’s Vision on Agriculture - Unfair trading practices (agriculture) - Regulation on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed, and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/625 - Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability & its implementation, including via REACH revision including Essential Use, Export ban on banned substances - Universal restriction on universal Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - Chemicals Industry Action Plan - ‘Simplification’, the Better Regulation agenda, and Regulatory Scrutiny Board - Omnibuses proposed by the European Commission since early 2025 - EU position at climate negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - Post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) - List of Projects of Common Interest (PCI list) - Global Gateway - Carbon Removal Certification Framework - 2024 EU Industrial Carbon Management Strategy - 2024 Communication on a 2040 Climate Target and 2025 Climate Law - 2025 Clean Industrial Deal, State aid framework (and Affordable Energy Action Plan) - 2025 Low Carbon Hydrogen Delegated Act - 2025 European Grids Package - 2025 ReSourceEU - 2026 Industrial Accelerator Act - 2026 legislative initiative on CO2 transportation infrastructure and markets - Industrial Decarbonisation Bank, Innovation Fund, InvestEU - Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships - Review of Emissions Trading Scheme - Review of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism - Simplification of Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin - Review of hydrogen framework and Methane Regulation - Implementation of the decarbonised gases and hydrogen package - Communication on the European Hydrogen Bank - April 2025 clean transition dialogues – stocktaking - Strategic projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act - RePower EU Plan (including EU external energy engagement in a changing world) - EU Energy Platform and Industry Advisory Group - Implementation of the Net Zero Industry Act, including strategic projects - Electricity Market Design - EU competitiveness beyond 2030 & 30 years single market - The enforcement mechanisms related to the Single Market: the Commission’s complaint mechanism, the notification procedure in the field of technical regulation and the services notification procedure, the 2020 Proportionality Test Directive - Competitiveness Compass - Strategy for financing the transition to a sustainable economy - European Semester & related procedures - Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement - Regulation on a Single Market For Digital Services (Digital Services Act) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC COM/2020/825 - Regulation on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (Digital Markets Act) COM/2020/842 - Revision of the Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market ('Directive on electronic commerce') - Artificial Intelligence Act - Digital Fairness Act (DFA)
Communication Activities
Information on our events, campaigns, and publications is available on our website: http://corporateeurope.org/
Interests Represented
Does not represent commercial interests
Member Of
- The Treaty Alliance http://www.treatymovement.com/ - European Trade Justice Coalition https://europeantradejustice.org/ - European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) www.corporatejustice.org - Climate Justice Now! (CJN!) https://climatejusticenow.org/ - European Network of Corporate Observatories https://corpwatchers.eu/ - Citizens for Science in Pesticide Regulation https://citizens4pesticidereform.eu/ - Rights for people, rules for corporations campaign https://stopisds.org/ - Beyond Gas Network https://www.rosalux.eu/metanavigation/multimedia/time-to-go-beyond-gas/ - Climate Justice Action https://climatejusticeaction.net/en/ - Fossil Free Politics coalition https://fossilfreepolitics.org/ - No Patents on Seeds https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/start - European Alliance for Responsible R&D and Affordable Medicines https://medicinesalliance.eu/ - Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice https://demandclimatejustice.org/ - Liability Roadmap https://liabilityroadmap.org/ - People vs. Big Tech https://peoplevsbig.tech/ - EU Food Policy Coalition https://foodpolicycoalition.eu/ - Justice is Everybody's Business Coalition https://justice-business.org/ - Real Zero Europe Coalition https://www.realsolutions-not-netzero.org/ - Kick Big Polluters Out coalition https://kickbigpollutersout.org/ - Ban PFAS manifesto https://banpfasmanifesto.org/en/ - Stop Glyphosate https://stopglyphosate.eu/ - SET-Network (Social-Ecological think-tanks network) - European Environmental Bureau https://eeb.org/ - Global Gas & Oil Network https://ggon.org/ - Rules to Protect (a European anti-deregulation network) (no website yet) - End Toxic Pesticide Trade Coalition (no website yet)
Organisation Members
We do not have members
Additional Information
Corporate Europe Observatory’s expenses for interest representation activities in 2025 were €489,023. It is very important that think tanks & NGOs are required to declare their lobby spending and we regret that the 2021-22 register revamp no longer requires this. As mentioned above, since November 2021 we declare all campaign and communications staff as working 50% of their working time on activities aimed at directly or indirectly influencing the EU institutions. This reflects our objectives and work. In 2025 our grants income was received from these funders: Sigrid Rausing Trust €245,072 Adessium Foundation €140,000 Polden Puckham Charity Fund €125,468 Isvara Foundation €100,000 Energy Transition Fund €98,886 Luminate Projects Limited €94,363 Broad Reach Foundation / Tides €84,925 OLIN gGmbH €50,000 Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer pour le Progrès humain €40,000 Swiss Philanthropy Foundation – OAK Environment Fund €35,499 MacArthur Foundation €25,415 European Climate Foundation €20,000 Open Society Foundation €15,499 Global Greengrants Fund €12,637 Brown University €903 Our full accounts since 2008 are available here: https://corporateeurope.org/en/who-we-are In 2023 and 2024 CEO has worked with the law firm Artemisia which provides advice and support on the 'regulation on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed'. In 2025 we worked with AWO Belgium BV which will produce a study on 'AI standard-setting'. CEO does not accept funding from EU institutions or corporations.
Commissioner Meetings
No recorded meetings with EU commissioners.