Commission Expert Groups
Yiorgos Vassalos
Corporate Europe Observatory
Media Seminar, 25/08/2011
European Commission
Monopoly of legislative initiative
- The Commission
proposes more
than 100 legislative
pieces per year
and nearly all get
adopted
- #1 target of
lobbyists
Commission drafts laws for half
billion Europeans
- More than 50% of the legislation adopted by the
parliaments of the 27 member states has its
origins in Brussels. More than 80% of economic
one.
- Small administration particularly when compared
with the size of national governments:
Commission has 24,000 staff (32,000 with
outsourced staff)
Many French ministries have above 30,000.
- Only less than 12,000 A grade officials actually
deal with legislation.
Can the Commission draft laws
alone?
- 3,500 staff working in
the Commission's
research and statistical
facilities (Eurostat,
RTD, JRC)
- 7,300 staff of the
European Community
Agencies
Expertise deficit
= lobbyists’ entry point
Commission can
mobilise resources
from:
• Member states
• Public universities
and civil society
• The thousands of
corporate lobbyists
present in Brussels
Ways to ‘provide expertise’
- Presentation of reports
- Conferences
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner events
- Forums
- Letters
- Commission doesn’t hide preference to business
Institutionalised influence:
advisory bodies
- Around 1,000 expert groups
- They make the fist legislative and policy
drafts
- 2/3 of them composed by member states
representatives
- 300 with non-government participation
- 100 controlled by corporations, trade
associations etc.
Policy areas controlled by corporate
interests through expert groups
• Entreprise and industry (27/44/90)
• Trade (not in the register)
• Research (tech. platforms)
• Agriculture
But mostly…
Finance (DG Markt)
Eleven out of 20 groups dealing with financial regulation (19 in the Register plus CESAME2 which may still exist) have non-governmental members. Seven of the 11 are dominated by corporate representatives. These seven groups are:
• Expert Group on Financial Education (EGFE) - 1 hybrid, government and corporate dependent, 10 Corporate, 2 alternative banking1 consumers,1 academia,1 professional
• Group of Experts in Banking Issues (GEBI) - Member + observers: 39 industry, (incl. savings banks), 1 academic,1 think tank, 4 NGO + consumers,1 union
• Payment Systems Market Expert Group (PSMEG) - 43 industry, 1 trade union, 1 NGO representatives, 1 cooperative banks
• CESAME (not in the register but we suppose still existing) - 31 industry representatives
• Insolvency Law Group of Experts (ILEG) - Judging from the job titles: Industry 17, Academia 1, Gov. 2
• Cross border financial redress analysis (29 inudsty, 24 governments)
• Expert Groups on Market Infastructure (EGMI) - Industry 31NGOs 1, Cooperative banks 1, Public banks 1, EU bodies 4
Among the 276 nongovernmental members, 202 come from industry and 74 from other interest types or entities.
2009: 84%
2011: 73%.
Finance (DG Markt)
Derivatives expert group
(now dissolved)
1. AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers)
2. BaFin (Bundesanstalt für
Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht)
3. CEBS (Committee of European Banking
Supervisors)
4. CEBS (Committee of European Banking
Supervisors)
5. CEIOPS (Committee of European Insurance and
Occupational Pensions Supervisors)
6. CESR (Committee of European Securities
Regulators)
7. CESR (Committee of European Securities
Regulators)
8. ECB (European Central Bank)
9. ECB (European Central Bank)
10. FSA (Financial Services Authority)
11. Alternative Investment Management Association
12. Association française des marchés financiers
(EFSA European Forum of Securities
Associations)
13. Barclays Capital (ISDA International Swaps and
Derivatives Association)
14. BGC International (WMBA Wholesale Markets
Brokers' Association)
15. BNP Paribas (EBF European Banking Federation)
16. Citigroup Global Markets (SIFMA Securities
Industry and Financial Markets Association)
17. Deutsche Bank (ISDA International Swaps and
Derivatives Association)
18. Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
19. DZ Bank AG (EACB European Association of Co-
operative Banks)
20. European Banking Federation
21. European Fund and Asset Management
Association
22. EUREX (EACH European Association of Central
Counterparty Houses)
23. Euronext.Liffe
24. (FESE Federation of European Securities
Exchanges)
Derivatives expert group
(now dissolved)
25. Federation of European Securities Exchanges, Futures and Options Association
26. Generali (CEA)
27. GFI Group (WMBA Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association)
28. Goldman Sachs (ISDA International Swaps and Derivatives Association)
29. Grupo Santander (EBF European Banking Federation)
30. HSBC (EBF European Banking Federation)
31. ICAP (WMBA Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association)
32. ICE Clear Europe (FESE Federation of European Securities Exchanges)
33. ING (CEA)
34. Intesa SanPaolo (EBF European Banking Federation)
35. International Swaps and Derivatives Association
36. JP Morgan (SIFMA Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association)
37. Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (EAPB European Association of Public Banks)
38. LCH.Clearnet (EACH European Association of Central Counterparty Houses)
39. MarkitMEFF (FESE Federation of European Securities Exchanges)
40. Morgan Stanley (ISDA International Swaps and Derivatives Association)
41. Nasdaq/IDCG (EACH European Association of Central Counterparty Houses)
42. Tullet Prebon (WMBA Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association)
43. UBS (ISDA International Swaps and Derivatives Association)
Same banks everywhere
- DG Markt expert groups
- CDS market (ISDA, Markit,…)
- Represented in the International Institute
of Finance present in the last EU summit
(July 12, six page document)
Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, ING,
BNY Mellon, Société Générale, Citigroup, BNP
Paribas, Credit Suisse etc.
Our work with Alter-EU
• CEO article 2007
• Report 2008 when there was no info on
most expert groups
• Report Autumn 2009
• Summer 2010 – Ombudsman complaint
• May 2011 – civil society workshop
• To come – multiple complaint on finance,
letter on DG Enterprise expert groups
Rules on expert groups
1. Rules on Expert groups C(2010) 7649 final
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/PDF/C_2010_EN.pdf
2. Code of conduct on expertise
http://ec.europa.eu/governance/docs/comm_expertise_en.pdf
3. On conultation standards
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2002:0704:FIN:en:PDF
Curbing privileged access
ALTER-EU runs a number of initiatives to
combat corporate capture of expert groups:
- Ombudsman complaint - http://www.alter-eu.org/documents/2010/11/04/ombudsmans-inquiry-on-expert-groups
- Mobilising MEPs - http://blog.brusselssunshine.eu/2011/02/meps-corner-commission-on-expert-groups.html
- Encourage civil society to open fronts (fi. transfer pricing, financial supervision authorities) - http://www.alter-eu.org/events/2011/05/13/alter-eu-workshop-on-expert-groups
- Media campaing - http://www.wdr.de/tv/monitor/
Technology Platforms
‘‘ETPs provide a framework for
stakeholders, led by industry, to define
[EU] research priorities and action’’
Examples of problematic ones:
- ‘Sustainable Nuclear Energy’
- ‘Zero Emissions Platform’ (CCS)
- ’European Biofuels Technology Platform’