[Corp. Watch] Automotive industry bribes European Union officials and politicians

[Corporation Watch]

Documentary Reveals Car Lobby Perks for MEPs

(Inside the Brussels Bubble blog, May 19) -- An interesting  
documentary on Dutch television yesterday showed the massive influence  
of the automotive industry in the European Union (EU) capital in  
Brussels, Belgium. The industry's lobby uses a range of different  
tactics, including some that come close to influence peddling.

	Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Malcolm Harbour, who has a  
strong say in Parliamentary decisionmaking on the EU's environmental  
standards for cars, routinely borrows luxurious new cars for "test  
drives", accepts invitations to attend grand prix racing events, and  
other treats courtesy of the automotive industry.

	Harbour (a former car designer) claims he needs to understand the  
latest technology.
	The documentary revealed that it is very common both for European  
Commission officials and MEPs to buy cars at reduced rate. For  
decades, every major car manufacturer has a special "diplomatic sales"  
branch in Brussels offering 20-25% discounts exclusively for MEPs and  
other EU officials.

	(For example, here's Fiat's "diplomatic sales" website: www.diplomaticsales.be 
.)

	The influence of the car lobby became very clear when European  
Commissioner for Enterprise Guenter Verheugen [the equivalent of the  
U.S. Secretary of Commerce] and MEPs Harbour, Ari Vatanen (a former  
rally driver), and Herman de Croo, who chairs the European Transport  
Safety Council, were interviewed about car safety standards.

	Asked whether the car industry should be obliged to use the best  
available technology in order to reduce accidents and mortality rates,  
all of these influential players repeated the "integrated approach"  
mantra promoted by the car lobbies.

	To avoid stricter car safety regulations, lobbyists have successfully  
convinced EU decisionmakers that driving behavior, [obstacles such as]  
trees next to roads, and other infrastructure are [equally] as  
important factors [as car design and safety equipment].

	While those things may or may not be important to vehicle safety and  
car-related fatalities, they are matters that MEPs have no power over,  
because they are actually controlled by the individual countries that  
are members of the EU. The result: preserving the status quo.