{"id":22984,"date":"2026-06-11T00:28:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/11\/biggest-corporate-lobby-spenders-hit-a-record-e382-million-as-industry-friendly-agenda-speeds-up-corporate-europe-observatory\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T00:28:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:28:59","slug":"biggest-corporate-lobby-spenders-hit-a-record-e382-million-as-industry-friendly-agenda-speeds-up-corporate-europe-observatory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/11\/biggest-corporate-lobby-spenders-hit-a-record-e382-million-as-industry-friendly-agenda-speeds-up-corporate-europe-observatory\/","title":{"rendered":"Biggest corporate lobby spenders hit a record \u20ac382 million as industry-friendly agenda speeds up &#8211; Corporate Europe Observatory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>     <strong>Europe\u2019s push for green hydrogen is harming local communities in the Global South.\u2028<\/strong><br \/>     This documentary follows EU plans from Brussels to South Africa \u2013 exposing corporate lobbying, broken promises, and communities resisting extraction.    <br \/>     Help us get these front line voices to more people to convince the EU to stop investing in fossil fuels by halting green hydrogen imports.   <br \/> <iframe src=\"https:\/\/tube.nestor.coop\/videos\/embed\/dCDtqSkMfNaxxa7C2VTP9L\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe> <br \/>As EU leaders prepare for the upcoming European Council meeting on 18\u201319 June, a new analysis by Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl shows that corporate lobbying in Brussels has reached record levels, and their efforts are paying off.&nbsp;<br \/>Using data scraped from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lobbyfacts.eu\/\">LobbyFacts<\/a>, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/corporateeurope.org\/en\/2026\/06\/eu-corporate-lobby-league-2026\">EU corporate lobby league 2026<\/a> reveals that companies and industry associations with a declared annual lobby budget of at least \u20ac1 million&nbsp;\u2014 173 in total \u2014 now collectively spend a minimum of \u20ac381.75 million per year lobbying EU institutions&nbsp;\u2013 nearly 50% more than in 2020. These figures are likely to be under-estimates.<br \/>These findings emerge at a time when the second von der Leyen Commission, alongside a right-wing majority in the European Parliament, is pursuing an extensive deregulation agenda under the guise of &#8216;competitiveness&#8217; and &#8216;simplification&#8217;. This agenda fulfils long-standing requests from some of Europe&#8217;s most influential industry groups.<br \/><strong>Vicky Cann, Corporate Europe Observatory researcher and campaigner<\/strong>, says:&nbsp;<br \/><em>\u201cEU corporate lobbying has reached staggering levels, and today\u2019s figures are just the tip of the iceberg. It&#8217;s not only about seeking influence; it&#8217;s about the most powerful industries in Europe and beyond capturing EU policy-making, while the public is largely in the dark about what is happening. This takes place in the midst of the biggest deregulation wave ever seen in the EU. Meanwhile, instead of defending the public, EU decision-makers are offering the biggest industry lobbies an open door.\u201d<\/em><br \/>Key findings from the report include:<br \/>Worryingly, this increased expenditure is being rewarded with unprecedented political access and policy&nbsp;outcomes that undermine the public interest. Since taking office, the second von der Leyen Commission has launched a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/corporateeurope.org\/en\/deregulation-watch\">series of omnibus and deregulation initiatives<\/a> affecting areas including chemicals legislation, agriculture, digital policy, industrial emissions, and permitting procedures.<br \/><strong>Felix Duffy, LobbyControl researcher and campaigner<\/strong> says: <em>\u201cThe fact that the largest Big Tech lobbyists collectively spend at least 73 million euros is a warning sign for democracy. At a time when Europe urgently needs robust digital regulations, the most powerful technology companies are investing record sums to undermine them. Google, Amazon, Meta and others already hold enormous market power and have privileged access to policymakers.&nbsp;<\/em><br \/><em>Rather than making concessions to Big Tech with a deregulation agenda, the European Commission should rigorously enforce the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act, the AI Act, and the GDPR. Anyone who wants to protect digital fundamental rights, fair competition and democratic oversight must limit the power of Big Tech.\u201d<\/em><br \/>The report makes various recommendations to rethink EU lobby rules. With some parts of decision-making being steadily captured by corporate interests at the expense of the interests of citizens, action is urgently needed to protect action on the climate and environmental pollution crises, and to preserve digital rights. The Commission should stop providing privileged access to industry lobbies and ensure that other voices, for example from the general public, civil society, and independent scientists and researchers, are heard loud and clear. And the EU Lobby Transparency Register must be made legally-binding on registrants, to tackle the significant problem of inaccurate data which litters the register, and which this report also highlights.<br \/>ENDS<br \/><strong>For media inquiries, please contact<\/strong><br \/>Vicky Cann, Corporate Europe Observatory researcher and campaigner&nbsp;<br \/>+44 7960 988096, <a href=\"#\" data-mail-to=\"ivpxl\/ng\/pbecbengrrhebcr\/qbg\/bet\" data-replace-inner=\"@email\">@email<\/a><br \/>Felix Duffy, LobbyControl researcher and campaigner<br \/>+49 160 91478050, <a href=\"#\" data-mail-to=\"sryvk\/qbg\/qhssl\/ng\/yboolpbageby\/qbg\/qr\" data-replace-inner=\"@email\">@email<\/a><br \/>Marcella Via, Corporate Europe Observatory press officer<br \/>+32 489622233, <a href=\"#\" data-mail-to=\"zrqvn\/ng\/pbecbengrrhebcr\/qbg\/bet\" data-replace-inner=\"@email\">@email<\/a>&nbsp;<br \/>&nbsp;<strong>Notes to editor<\/strong><br \/>This article continues after the banner<br \/>We are a small team that works fully independently of funding from EU<\/p>\n<p> institutions and corporations.<\/p>\n<p> Every single donation helps us fight the hold of Big Business over the EU.<br \/>Corporate Europe Observatory<\/p>\n<p> Rue d\u2019\u00c9dimbourg 26<\/p>\n<p> 1050 Brussels&nbsp;\u2013 Belgium<\/p>\n<p> Tel: +32 (0)2 893 0930<br \/>For media inquiries please contact<\/p>\n<p> media(at)corporateeurope.org<br \/>For any other issues, please email us at<\/p>\n<p> info(at)corporateeurope.org<br \/><a href=\"\/our-privacy-policy\">Our privacy policy<\/a><br \/><strong>Charitable status<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Corporate Europe Observatory is recognised by the Dutch tax office as a charitable institution (ANBI) under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anbi-instellingen.nl\/anbi_zoeken_lwcm\/\">fiscal number 806634558<\/a>. Legal and fiscal information <a href=\"\/dutch-legal-requirements-ceos-charitable-status\">can be found here<\/a>.<br \/><strong>Who funds us<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Our funding policy rejects funding from EU institutions and corporations in order to maintain the independence of our research. See <a href=\"\/who-we-are#our_funders\">which grant-making foundations are supporting us<\/a>.<br \/><strong>Lobby transparency<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Corporate Europe Observatory is registered in the EU lobby transparency register under <a href=\"http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/transparencyregister\/public\/consultation\/displaylobbyist.do?id=5353162366-85\">identification number 5353162366-85<\/a>.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMixwFBVV95cUxQcHEyWXIxSVVhakFRVnFpVVc0UGRJeXlwYU4xdTJBS1dDVlJ3NUtIQ2p6MGY2cklSaFhIUTZDMmZBY0FVNXhCdVZCMzNWWG1mV25Ca21zLUlnbWFGeVdTVG16NDc3TnAzRjdONFp5ZHRDbTdZZ2x3NHpuY182ZE93ZnBvWXhMMEZWeHM0ZUpqODAxWU1SVThnNHlZNUFJZjdfNWEzSlp2SE45eVdqNzItMjlSQTJFNF9tdWdZcEZ3eEYxSTdvMGlZ?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Europe\u2019s push for green hydrogen is harming local communities in the Global South.\u2028 This documentary follows EU plans from Brussels to South Africa \u2013 exposing corporate lobbying, broken promises, and communities resisting extraction. Help us get these front line voices to more people to convince the EU to stop investing in fossil fuels by halting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}