Agrofuel lobbyists and MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi get Worst EU Lobbying Awards 2008

From October 20th to the end of November 2008 it was possible to vote the Worst EU Lobbying. The idea behind the Worst EU Lobbying Awards is to discourage controversial lobbying practices by exposing them to the public. Thousands of corporate lobbyists roam the corridors of power in Brussels. Operating out of the spotlight, many of them do not hesitate to employ improper methods, like pretending to be concerned environmentalists, buying science, secretly funding anarcho-capitalist think-tanks, or securing privileged access to EU decision-makers. In June this year, the European Commission asked lobbyists to register themselves in a public register and to explain who they work for, and how much money is involved. But the lobbying register is voluntary, and it is so weak and flawed that it does not prevent lobbyists from working in the dark.vote the Worst EU Lobbying

The winners of the 2008 Worst EU Lobbying Awards have been revealed at a ceremony in Brussels yesterday evening, despite a last minute attempt to gag the organisers with legal action from one of the candidates. More than 8500 people took part in the online public vote.
One of the candidates for the Worst Conflict of Interest Award, suspended Commission official Fritz-Harald Wenig, unsuccessfully tried to silence the Worst EU Lobbying Awards last week by taking legal action in the Court of First Instance in Brussels to have his name removed from the nominations and not have his name mentioned during the Worst Lobbying Awards ceremony. The court ruled that freedom of speech was more important in this case.
This years Award for the Worst EU Lobbying 2008, with more than 50% of the votes, goes to a joint nomination for the agrofuel lobbyists, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Brazilian sugar barons UNICA and energy company Abengoa Bioenergy for their use of misleading information and greenwash. The lobbyists tried to influence crucial debates in the European Parliament and Council by claiming that agrofuels (crops used for fuel for cars and lorries) are sustainable.
The Worst Conflict of Interest Award 2008 goes to the Finnish MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi, with 26% of the votes cast. MEP Kauppi has been promoting the interests of her future employer, a banking lobbying group, while still an active member of the European Parliament. Kauppi has consistently urged light-touch regulation for the banking sector and in January 2009 will officially be employed by the Federation of Finnish Financial Services.
Voting Results:
Worst Lobbying Award
The agrofuels lobby (including MPOC, Unica and Abengoa) 52%
The International Air Transport Association (IATA 14%
Gplus and Aspect Consulting 13%
The European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines (EAASM) 12%
The European Business and Parliament Scheme (EBPS) 10%
[Total online votes cast 8643]
Worst Conflict of Interest Award
Piia-Noora Kauppi MEP 26%
Dr Caroline Jackson MEP 23%
Klaus-Heiner Lehne MEP 22%
Ex-European Commission officials Petite, Klotz and Kjølbye 14%
Commission official Fritz-Harald Wenig 14%
[Total online votes cast 8394]
Full details on all the nominees can be found at:
http://www.worstlobby.eu/2008/vote
The Worst EU Lobbying Awards is organised by Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth Europe, LobbyControl and Spinwatch.