While the European Commission is publicly talking up its climate ambition, it is allowing the shale gas industry to dominate the behind-the-scenes debate on fracking policy. This briefing reveals how the European Commission’s new expert network on shale gas is dominated by major fracking industry players and those with strong links to it, and freezing …
Lawyers subverting the public interest: Lobby group EFILA’s stake in investment arbitration
In January 2015 the European Commission published the first results of a public consultation with the highest number of responses in the history of the EU – more than 145,000 submissions by citizens. What had raised the interest and opposition of so many European citizens? A secretive legal system that had been virtually unknown to …
Lawyers subverting the public interest: Lobby group EFILA’s stake in investment arbitrationRead more
Eating from the farm: the social, environmental and economic benefits of local food systems
This briefing looks at how communities are taking control of the food revolution, and bypassing supermarkets to reconnect citizens with the food they eat and the people that produce it. With case studies from Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and Hungary, it demonstrates the variety and creativity of those working together for a better …
Eating from the farm: the social, environmental and economic benefits of local food systemsRead more
Regulatory cooperation: how an EU-US trade deal risks creating a labyrinth of red tape
For the most recent round of EU-US trade talks, the European Commission released an initial proposal for legal text on ‘regulatory cooperation’ in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP. Regulatory cooperation is a key element of the proposed deal. As tariffs between the EU and the US are already relatively low, the main economic …
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A Rotten Deal: Why TTIP threatens EU food safety standards for poultry
Citizens’ concerns that the EU-US trade deal could lead to ‘chlorinated chicken’ being sold in the EU have been downplayed as ‘European fears over American ‘Frankenfood’ imports’. In reality, the European Commission has pushed hard to get meat rinses authorised for use by the European livestock sector. But the EU’s approach to food safety standards …
A Rotten Deal: Why TTIP threatens EU food safety standards for poultryRead more
Preventing Waste: recycling isn’t enough for a circular economy
The many social, environmental and economic benefits that would result from robust resource policies have been recognised by both the European Union and the governments of its member states. For example, by boosting re-use and repair of products, jobs are created while the impacts from mineral and metal extraction, incineration and landfill are avoided. But …
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