Europe Inc -New Edition Regional and Global Restructuring and the Rise of Corporate Power

by Balanya, Belen; Doherty, Ann; Hoedeman, Olivier; Ma'anit, Adam

• ISBN13: 9780745321646
• ISBN10: 074532164X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-09-20
• Publisher: Pluto Press

Summary

Over the past two decades, the major international corporations have become industrial lobbyists within the European Union to such an extent that they pose a threat to democracy. This new and fully revised edition of Europe Inc. provides a much-needed insight into the systematic ways in which transnational corporations work through lobby groups to shape EU policy. With a new introduction, updated statistics and new resources, it's an invaluable handbook for anyone interested in the EU and the political power that corporations wield.The authors cover the major players in this anti-democratic practice and analyse the factors that have enabled corporate influence in Europe to dominate. They examine how governments have been persuaded to increase competitiveness by dismantling and privatising public services, deregulating industry, and dismantling social and environmental protections; the increasing influence of corporate lobby groups on decision makers and the corresponding lack of voice given to small business, organised labour and individual citizens; the impact of the single market and currency; structural adjustment in Eastern Europe; the role of European industrial lobby groups within the WTO, and the important Multilateral Agreement on Investment. Case studies include the biotech industry, the public relations industry and the UN climate summit.

Author Biography

The authors are all working with the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) in Amsterdam. CEO is a research and campaign group targeting the threats to democracy, equity, social justice and the environment posed by the economic and political power of corporations and their lobby groups.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	p. vii
Foreword	p. x
Preface	p. xi
Introduction to the New Edition	p. xvi
Corporate Europe
Welcome to Corporate Europe	p. 3
Laying the Foundations: European PR Agencies and Think-Tanks	p. 11
Writing the Script: The European Roundtable of Industrialists	p. 19
UNICE: Industry's Well-oiled Lobby Machine	p. 37
AmCham Chimes in with the Brussels Corporate Choir	p. 45
Polishing the EMU: The Association for the Monetary Union of Europe	p. 49
Doing Business in Amsterdam: The ERT, UNICE and the Treaty of Amsterdam	p. 58
Oiling the Wheels: Lobbying for European Transport Infrastructure	p. 68
Forcefeeding Europe: The Biotech Lobby	p. 79
Going Global
Globalisation: Corporate-led, EU-fed	p. 91
The Transatlantic Connection	p. 97
MAIgalomania: The Global Corporate Investment Agenda and the Citizens' Movement Opposing It	p. 109
The WTO Millennium Bug: Corporate Control over Global Trade Politics	p. 123
Planet Inc.
Landing on Planet Inc.	p. 143
Global Elite Meetings: The Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission and the World Economic Forum	p. 145
Exploiting Sustainability: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development	p. 150
The Weather Gods: Corporations Profit from Climate Change	p. 155
The Corporate Cooptation of the United Nations	p. 166
Challenging Corporate Power
Challenging Corporate Power	p. 177
Appendices
Navigating the Brussels Labyrinth: The European Union and its Institutions	p. 187
A Condensed History of the EU	p. 191
ERT Members and their Companies	p. 193
Resources	p. 205
Notes	p. 220
Index	p. 251
Figures
The European Roundtable of Industrialists, December 1995	p. 34
Demonstrations in Amsterdam against unemployment and social exclusion, June 1997	p. 60
WTO Director-General Renato Ruggierro and Arthur Dunkel, head of the ICC's trade and investment committee, September 1998	p. 138
Activists in England uproot genetically modified crops	p. 184
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