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Welcome to the newsletter of Follow the Money’s EU desk, with insights from our EU specialists, news from the Brussels bubble, and the latest on our investigations!

This week, we look at a strange “media partnership” between the European Committee of Regions and the Spanish news EFE, which seems to be blurring the lines between journalism and PR. We also have some updates on the Pfizergate probe.

First, a brief word on the issue of NGO funding clampdown...

Much has already been said and written about the recent ‘scandal’ regarding EU subsidies for NGOs that made headlines last week. For those who missed it: the centre-right EPP has been pushing a clear agenda to further undermine the already struggling NGOs, an effort that dates back to the aftermath of the so feverishly wanted US-EU trade deal TTIP, which was ultimately flushed down the drain years ago due to widespread opposition from civil society.

In this endeavour, the EPP finds itself aligned with allies such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has for long despised NGOs for his own reasons. And let’s not forget the EPP’s own hypocrisy: while the party loves to provide lip service to transparency and democracy, it forms in fact the most important obstacle when it comes to taking steps in the right direction. (For more details, see our previous articles on the topic: here, here, and here.)

That said, the situation of watchdogs in Brussels remains deeply troubling. Because of the lack of visibility and public involvement in European policymaking – arguably the primary driver of the infamous democratic deficit – critical and alternative voices have to be fueled somewhat artificially by either governments or philanthropists to be able to slightly counterbalance the omnipresent industrial lobby.

This sadly creates uncomfortable dependencies. My colleague Alexander Fanta’s findings below on the journalist-for-hire scheme provide yet another stark example. 

The bigger question, then, is how to finally address the root cause of the democratic deficit. If only the EPP were genuinely interested…

Story of the week

Inside the EU regions’ clandestine journalist-for-hire scheme

The Committee of Regions (CoR) has taken a desperate – and ethically questionable – step to make sure it elicits more than a yawn from Brussels correspondents. 

This EU advisory body representing  329 European regions, provinces and cities has no role in European law-making other than providing non-binding opinions, which are mostly ignored. It has limited recognition by EU citizens, and the media rarely reports on its activities. 

It looks like the CoR is desperate to have more public visibility. In September 2022, it entered into a “media partnership” with the Spanish news agency EFE, worth a total of 135,000 euros. 

By the terms of their deal, EFE – which provides wire stories to thousands of news outlets in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world – is obliged to send a “dedicated journalist” to cover the CoR’s plenary meetings and other events, according to three contracts seen by Follow the Money. The journalist’s role? To provide “quotes and visibility” to representatives of European regions, “in particular the members of the Spanish delegation”, and other EU figures, “when considered useful from an editorial point of view.”

These contracts, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, raise questions about the editorial independence of EFE’s coverage of the CoR. According to identical language across the contracts, which span from September 2022 to the present, EFE journalists are expected to “cooperate and work in synergy with the CoR press service in order to identify and develop messages, angles and stories that have the highest potential in relation to the specific national and regional media agenda.”

Although the contracts explicitly state that this partnership is meant to be achieved while “respecting the editorial line” of the news agency, they also specify events the journalist is required to cover, such as the COP29 climate conference, as well as topics like the EU’s Green Deal legislation and Ukraine.

The lines between journalism and PR blur further with clauses requiring EFE, upon request, “to distribute press notes based on the CoR press releases or alternatively, draft and distribute news articles on its basis.”

How do these commitments align with EFE’s editorial statute, which promises “maximum journalistic independence”? The news agency did not reply to Follow the Money’s request for comment. The CoR, for its part, insists it fully respects EFE’s editorial independence. “Media partners have never received orders to report on a particular story with a given angle, nor have they been prevented from publishing any story”, CoR’s Deputy Director of Communication Michele Cercone said in an e-mail.

The EFE deal raises an obvious question: Who else is paid to report on the regional assembly? The CoR says it has similar partnerships with other news organisations, such as Italian news agency ANSA and Polish agency PAP. Who else? We’ve already filed a new Freedom of Information request to find out. Stay tuned!

More stories from the EU bubble

Belgian court dismisses criminal lawsuit against von der Leyen over Pfizer deal

A Belgian Court on Tuesday dismissed the criminal complaint filed by Belgian lobbyist Frédéric Baldan against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, pharma companies Pfizer and BioNTech and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. Von der Leyen struck a secret deal with Bourla in April 2021 to secure 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Here is a quick recap of what we previously reported about it. 

The Liège appeals court declared the corruption complaint inadmissible because Baldan failed to establish personal harm, von der Leyen’s lawyer told AFP. Several anti-vaccine groups, as well as Poland and Hungary, which had joined Baldan’s complaint, also saw their case dismissed.

The court determined that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is competent to investigate the matter. The EPPO had already launched its own investigation into the EU’s acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines in October 2022. Lawyers for Poland and Hungary did not respond to our request for comment on whether they would now seek to join the EPPO case. 

The New York Times is also still waiting for a judgment in an administrative lawsuit in Luxembourg, where it seeks to obtain access to the messages von der Leyen exchanged with the Pfizer CEO to negotiate the deal.

Simon Van Dorpe

Von der Leyen’s plans to cut red tape leaked – will they hold?

Last week, the European Commission’s plans to cut bureaucracy were leaked. Our colleague Peter Teffer remains sceptical, as you can see in his comments on BlueSky. 

Why? Because he’s heard it all before. For decades, promises have been made to reduce administrative burdens for companies in Europe – a pledge repeated time and again but never actually delivered. Check out his recent article to understand why the EU can’t break free from its bureaucratic mess. 

Lise Witteman

Our latest reads

Where your money goes when you shop at Zara (and it’s not to the textile workers)

For years, the parent company of fast fashion giants Zara, Bershka, and Pull&Bear has promised living wages for the factory workers who make your t-shirts, sweaters, and jeans. 

But annual reports from the past decade tell a different story: despite record-breaking profits, the company allocates almost nothing to raising wages – leaving workers in countries like Bangladesh on the breadline.

Read the full investigation by Yara van Heugten here.

Brussels vs Red Bull: EU ramps up competition crackdown on big brands

Red Bull gives you wings – but is it stopping its rivals from taking off? The energy drink giant is under investigation by the European Commission for allegedly abusing its dominant market position. A practice that could inflate supermarket prices. 

This is just the latest case of a major brand suspected of exploiting the EU’s single market with anti-competitive tactics. This practice costs European consumers at least €14 billion every year – yet the EU is struggling to put an end to it.

Read the full investigation by Henk Willem Smits and Salsabil Fayed here.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this newsletter. Share your feedback with our team at bureaubrussel@ftm.nl and let us know what you’d like to see more of.

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