‘Worst EU Lobbying’
Award 2005
Nominees

Below you find short explanations about each nominee, with links to more extensive information. Every voter could vote for just one nominee.

Votes
 
85%
7035
Campaign for Creativity
Nominated as a fake NGO brilliantly disguising corporate demands as grassroots concerns
5%
418
ExxonMobil
Nominated for its generous funding of think tanks that deny EU action against climate change is needed.
2%
206
European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE)
Nominated for determination to bash EU climate legislation
2%
181
European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)
Nominated for being an effective ‘Crooked Enemy oF Informed Consumers’
2%
130
European Patients’ Forum
Nominated for representing pharmaceutical corporations rather than patients.
1%
114
New Defence Agenda
Nominated for being the arms industry’s ‘weapon of mass disinformation’
1%
84
SEAP and EPACA – the lobbyists’ lobbies
Nominated for their work to keep the public in the dark
0%
72
European Services Forum
Nominated for successfully using its privileged access to EU trade officials to determine the EU’s trade agenda
0%
49
Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF) and PR firm Burson-Marsteller
Nominated for fighting fire with smokescreens
0%
36
Houston Consulting Europe
Nominated for arranging marriage between big banking lobbyists and Members of the European Parliament
Total votes: 8325
 
 
 
 
 
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New Defence Agenda

Nominated for being the arms industry’s ‘weapon of mass disinformation’

Based in the prestigious Bibliothèque Solvay, a stone’s throw away from the European Parliament, this think tank offers a range of convenient services to its ‘partners’, mainly arms produers like BAe Systems, Northrop Grumman, EADS, Lockheed Martin and Thales. Claiming to be “a neutral platform for debate”, for €25,000 the New Defence Agenda offers arms corporations conferences on issues of their choice. For €30,000 you can have a “Tailor-made Discussion Paper”.

Blow away the New Defence Agenda’s false neutrality by voting them your number one in our ‘Worst EU Lobbying’ Award 2005.

Links to more information

  • The emerging EU Military-Industrial Complex, Frank Slijper, Transnational Institute & Dutch Campaign Against Arms Trade, May 2005
  • Transparency unthinkable? Financial secrecy common among EU think tanks, Corporate Europe Observatory, July 2005

Voters said about this nominee:

The people should always know the truth

EU is an instrument for peace, not for arms. So, their lobby is a time of waste.

Warheads that promise peace by selling weapons deserve to be publically defaced. Even the governments of the poorest of countries rather buy weapons to manifest their power than useing the money to serve their people. The ones that profit from this fact are the worst of the worst.

New Defence Agenda

Because they are very dangerous, literally! Weapons serve no useful purpose, they are just meant to kill people.

Becuase they’re the worst…

When I went to their conference it felt like I was inside a Michael Moore documentary.

We can never take our eyes off the defence industry. Nasty people.

Because mis(s)information is a waepon of mass destruction which can be found all over the world…

Nominated as a fake NGO brilliantly disguising corporate demands as grassroots concerns

Because nobody ca nsupport the theory that one manufactures a weapon, so that it will never be shot !!!

The defence industry forms the greatest threat to world peace.

There is indeed an EU Military Industrial Complex, and during the last years I’ve seen it get worse and worse. About time New Defence Agenda gets the credit they deserve: Huge profits over the backs of taxpayers, making conflict worse then it already is… and then presenting it like they are actually doing the world a service. If they win the award I hope for their sake it’s not too shiny, don’t think these people can stand the reflection of their own faces.