New Books Network How Corporate Lobbyists are Capturing EU Institutions
Feb 16, 2026
Kenneth Haar, researcher and campaigner at Corporate Europe Observatory, has spent nearly two decades exposing corporate lobbying in the EU. He describes the massive scale of lobbying in Brussels. He explains how industry shapes proposals early, dominates expert groups, and drives a vague ‘competitiveness’ push used to justify deregulation. He outlines tactics like revolving doors, omnibus laws, and ways civil society pushes back.
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Civil Society Loses Access To Decision Makers
- Civil society groups get far less access to policymakers than corporate actors, especially in sensitive consultations.
- The Commission often justifies exclusion by saying such groups are 'not affected directly' by the rules.
Competition State Shapes EU Priorities
- 'Europe as a competition state' means EU institutions prioritise business competitiveness as a dominant goal.
- This outlook arose in the 1990s and created strong ties between the Commission and corporate actors.
How ERT Embedded Corporate Influence
- The European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT) partnered with the Commission in the 1980s–90s to design EU institutions.
- That early collaboration helped entrench corporate influence at the core of EU policymaking.
