Corporate Europe Observatory and the NGO Seas at Risk published the findings of an investigation on Thursday 4 May which reveal that Dutch and Spanish lobbyists, claiming that they contributed to trade journals, have requested and been given press passes allowing them access to the Council building during the end-of-year ministerial negotiations on fishing quotas.
During the December 2016 negotiations, Dutch fishing industry representatives met with the Dutch fisheries minister, Martijn van Dam, near the press bar in the Council to give input on quota proposals, Corporate Europe Observatory says, with photos to back up the claim. In 2015, it was representatives from the industry in Spain (CEPESCA) who gained access to the Council building using press passes as quota negotiations were underway, the investigation states. In a letter, CEPESCA accepts that its representatives were in the press room but says that no lobbying of ministers or officials was carried out.
Corporate Europe Observatory’s lobby transparency campaigner Vicky Cann criticises the Council safety measures, which she describes as “at best naïve”. Fisheries policy officer at Seas at Risk Björn Stockhausen is unhappy that, instead of being based on independent scientific advice, quotas are partly shaped by the fishing industry presence in the building.
The Council Press Service has confirmed that, outside of public events or public debates, access to the Council Press Centre is limited to accredited journalists, Council staff, and delegates. Daily press passes can be given but conditions apply. “If it appears that a person has received a daily press pass without meeting the criteria, we will take measures to ensure that that does not happen again in the future”, the Council Press Service said. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)