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’re calling out a vape lobbying group kicked off the EU Transparency Register, but still playing some shady business in Brussels. Also in this newsletter: the EU’s transparency struggles, another case of Commission maladministration, and why that ‘sustainable’ salmon you bought in the supermarket might not be so green after all.
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Shadow vape lobbying in Brussels
Last week, we received a tip about the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA), a group carrying out lobbying activities in Brussels despite being suspended from the EU’s Transparency Register. The WVA claims to represent the rights of vapers and says it’s “committed to only representing the interests of consumers, empowering them to make informed decisions about their own health.”
The name rang a bell. Three years ago, Dutch newspaper NRC, together with The Investigative Desk and Le Monde, exposed how the tobacco industry is trying to prevent stricter e-cigarette regulations by funding ‘consumer movements’ like the WVA. This tactic – disguising corporate interests as grassroots advocacy – is a play tobacco giants like British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International have been using for decades.
The organisation has been suspended from the EU’s Transparency Register since 18 September 2024. That means it is no longer officially recognised as a lobby in the EU and is therefore not allowed to enter the European Parliament with a lobby badge or participate in lobbying activities.
The WVA’s director Michael Landl told Follow the Money the suspension was due to some documents getting mixed up, but didn’t want to go into further detail. When asked, the Parliament said it can’t comment on specific cases.
According to the public register, the WVA has had at least two meetings with MEPs from the far-right Patriots of Europe group after their suspension date. Landl admitted that they were able to meet with several MEPs in the last months.
On 21 November, several members of the WVA gathered in front of the European Parliament to present a petition against an EU-wide ban on flavoured e-cigarettes. No MEPs were spotted when Follow the Money went to take a look.
To make sure they got noticed, the WVA sent emails to MEPs requesting “a brief meeting [...] to discuss the petition and its implications in the European Parliament.” An MEP of The Left group was resolute when replying: “With your pattern of behaviour we consider that you do not live up to the spirit of the EU's transparency and lobbying rules.”
At the end of the day, it’s up to the Register’s officials to decide whether the WVA is breaking any rules with their activities. When presented with the case over the phone, Nick Aiossa, director of Transparency International EU, said that the WVA appears to be engaging in lobbying activities despite their suspension. “This type of shadow lobbying showcases why the lobbying rules should be stricter,” Aiossa remarked.
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WVA members in front of the European Parliament, 21 November 2024. © Follow the Money
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Other stories from the EU bubble…
Can there be democracy without transparency?
On 20 November, a roundtable on EU transparency took place at the Press Club Brussels Europe, featuring European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, MEP Evin Incir, and myself, representing Follow the Money. We discussed the barriers to accessing EU public documents – delays, redactions, and exemptions for sensitive topics.
Although this might seem rather dull and abstract, it touches upon the very core of EU democracy. How can citizens properly cast their vote or engage in policymaking without understanding the hidden interests at play? In fact, the current situation is that the
majority of all document requests are delayed or heavily redacted.
So what to do? During the round table event, proposed solutions included the introduction of an EU information Commissioner, suggested by O’Reilly, or the automatic publication of documents when delays occur, as suggested by Incir. However, meaningful change seems unlikely without sustained pressure.
That’s where Follow the Money comes in. Together with EUobserver and Investigate Europe, we’ll keep exposing the EU’s transparency failure – starting with our newsletter Secrecy Tracker.
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Maladministration, again
If you’ve been following Follow the Money’s reporting, you’ll know we’ve done extensive work on Europe’s €700 billion post-Covid recovery fund. Back in June 2022, I requested documents from the European Commission on how the Dutch government planned to spend its share of the fund. Initially, the Commission largely denied my request, after which I appealed. The Commission should have
handled the case within the maximum time limit of 30 working days. Instead, it took them 21 months.
I complained to the European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, about this. She concluded this month that this “egregious delay [...] constituted maladministration.” It’s not the first time the Ombudsman criticised the Commission for being too secretive. And while the Commission eventually released more than a hundred documents, the Ombudsman said it could have granted even more access and regretted that it “did not take the opportunity to do so.”
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Data visualisation
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In the context of the war in Ukraine, the EU is ramping up its defence budget. The projected budget for military spending in 2027 is nearly twice as large as it was in 2021. Most notably, new instruments supporting the military industry are being introduced to ensure the “availability and supply of defence products on a steady basis, in time and in the requisite volumes.”
Adriana Homolova
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Our latest reads
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How ‘sustainable’ is your salmon?
When you see a ‘sustainable’ label on fish at the supermarket, you probably assume it’s better for the planet. But while the label might look green, the reality isn’t always so clear – like in Chile.
Our investigation reveals that ‘sustainably farmed’ salmon carrying the ASC ecolabel is causing environmental damage in Chilean protected nature reserves. It’s linked to water pollution, soil degradation, and loss of biodiversity.
You could be supporting this damage without even realising it: this same salmon is sold in European supermarkets – proudly labelled as ‘sustainable.’
Read the full investigation by Remy Käller here.
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Fighting Putin in boardrooms
The war in Ukraine isn’t just about trenches and long-range missiles – it’s fought in boardrooms too; sanctions against Russia over Ukraine amount to ‘economic warfare’, and that fight is just as important as the one on the ground, argues US-British journalist Stephanie Baker in her new book, Punishing Putin.
With bankers, insurers, and lawyers on the front lines, how effective is this ‘economic warfare’? And how is Moscow striking back? Follow the Money’s Dimitri Tokmetzis spoke with Baker to find out.
Read the full interview here.
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