An analysis of European Parliament pass-holders shows that more than 70% of Google and Meta lobbyists have previously worked in EU and national government structures
A brand new analysis of the EU lobby data website LobbyFacts has revealed that companies with the largest previously declared lobby budgets have increased their spending by a third since 2015. LobbyFacts, which reflects EU transparency data in a user-friendly database, found that while in 2015 the top-declared companies spent around 90 million euros on lobbying, by 2022 this figure had increased to almost 120 million euros, i.e., by one third.
The ten biggest spenders on lobbying
For comparison, the 50 largest NGOs declare spending 40% less than the biggest corporations. And it seems that since December 2014, the 50 largest corporations have had significantly greater access to the European Commission than the 50 largest NGOs. This is another indication of what is already widely known: the corporate sector has far greater lobbying influence in Brussels than public interest groups. Corporate interests continue to dominate the Brussels lobbying scene.
Lobby data reveals other trends too
At the top of the list of the largest companies' declared EU lobbying budgets, big tech is overtaking the big energy industries, with Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Huawei ranking in the top ten. While there were four energy companies in the top ten in 2015, in 2022 there are only two – Shell and Exxon.
Big energy companies are not lobbying less, but compared to the sums spent by big tech companies, the energy sector looks less active. However, in the current energy crisis, as well as in connection with the Green Deal and REpowerEU packages, fossil fuels dominate the EU agenda, and it is highly likely that next year the Top 10 could look different.
The big tech revolving door
An analysis of the LobbyFacts archive of European Parliament pass-holders (combined with data from other sites such as LinkedIn) reveals that more than 70% of Google and Meta lobbyists have previously worked in EU and national government-level institutions.
From high-level Commission officials and MEPs down to assistants and interns, the number of people passing through the “revolving door” into the big tech industry is shockingly high. Surprisingly, some people have obtained a Big Tech lobby pass just a few months after leaving the public sector.
Meanwhile, keen observers of the Brussels lobbying scene may have noticed that there are now no Russian lobbyists in the EU lobby register. The register's secretariat has “suspended the activities of interest representatives whose headquarters are located in Russia, in connection with investigations that will be launched in relation to them” following EU sanctions and other measures.
But who are these Russian lobbyists?
Only LobbyFacts can show that at the time of the invasion of Ukraine in February, 13 Russian lobbyists were operating in the EU, including Gazprom and Lukoil; further searching will reveal their wider lobbying networks, including lobbying consultancies that have previously worked for them, as well as for other repressive regimes around the world.
Whether you want to find out who is lobbying EU policy, identify the most active lobbyists from your country, or build a profile of a company in the news, LobbyFacts is an essential tool for researching lobbying at the EU level.
Self-declared
Of course, LobbyFacts is only as good as the data it collects from the EU lobby register. Almost all data included in the official register is declared by the registrants themselves, and since the register is not legally binding and sanctions are weak, the system does not always provide reliable declarations. This means there are some careless or blatantly misleading entries, and the reliability checks performed by the register's secretariat are not yet sufficient to prevent them.
Analysis by LobbyFacts shows that none of the 27 registered at the top of the EU lobby spending list have credibly spent 10 million euros or more in the last year. Indeed, it is unlikely that the biggest Brussels lobbyists are those indicated in the EU register as being so. LobbyFacts analysis shows that 36 out of 51 entries are not who they are perceived to be.
Furthermore, the new rules applying to the EU register have created confusion and potentially a large loophole for those wishing to hide their lobbying expenditure. LobbyFacts reveals that at least 380 trade associations, companies, lobby firms, consultants, and law firms declare themselves as “non-commercial” and therefore do not have to provide any lobby budget.
It is absurd that the EU register has different declaration requirements for different types of organizations, and this undermines the ability to compare data. LobbyFacts founders Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl have now submitted an official complaint regarding these issues.
The EU lobby transparency register is still far from providing a completely reliable insight into the lobbying of EU institutions, but LobbyFacts will help navigate this labyrinth, avoid questionable data, and shed light on the corridors of power.
About the authors: Vicky Cann is a researcher and campaigner at Corporate Europe Observatory. She specializes in “revolving door”, state capture, and EU Council transparency issues. Nina Katzemich is a campaigner at the German NGO LobbyControl, which deals with transparency issues.