Webinar on French EU Presidency: whose sovereignty? 17 Jan 2022

Lobby watchdogs Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and Observatoire des multinationales invite you to a one hour webinar to present their new research into the recently-launched French Presidency of the EU Council.
In the run up to President Macron’s speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday 19 January, both organisations will share the findings of their investigation into the preparation of the French Presidency and provide some fact-based critique of Macron’s EU policy agenda.

It is deeply worrying that this Presidency has been prepared in close collaboration with the French corporate sector and is setting a policy agenda that strongly reflects business demands. In the area of European democracy Macron’s stated desire to “stop building Europe in isolation from citizens” is contradicted by his government’s approach behind the closed doors of the Council. The full report is available in both English and French.

Some issues that will be discussed during this webinar:

• The revolving doors between all levels of French Government and the private sector.
• Corporate sponsorship of the EU Presidency.
• The broken promises by Macron for a more democratic and transparent EU.
• Unpicking Macron’s discourse about ‘strategic sovereignty’ for the EU and ‘European champions’.
• The French Government’s promotion of controversial industries, including nuclear energy and the arms trade.
• Other examples of crucial files at risk of corporate capture including concerning tax policy, platform workers’ rights, and Big Tech.

DATE: Monday 17 January from 10.30h – 11.30h (CET).

ZOOM LINK here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81137842646?pwd=VFlmenpxKzJUY1ZWem1nZDRiL2NEdz09

PROGRAMME:

• Hans van Scharen (media-officer CEO): Welcome + 1 minute introduction
• Olivier Petitjean (researcher at ODM): Who’s sovereignty: the private sector agenda behind the French EU presidency  (5-10 min)
• Lora Verheecke (researcher at ODM): Examples of corporate capture of the French presidency (5-10min)
• Vicky Cann (researcher at CEO): The Council as ‘black box’ of EU decision making and why the French presidency does not look promising to improve transparency (5 — 10 min)
• Questions and answers: 30 minutes.

We would highly appreciate if you could confirm your participation by a simple email: Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.