A Europe of Capital

We are excited to launch the upcoming book “A Europe of Capital” by Kenneth Haar, researcher and campaigner with Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO). Join us for a panel discussion with the author and Özlem Demirel, MEP (The Left)!

30,000 lobbyists…and counting. The number of lobbyists regularly engaged in EU policies is roughly double, what it was only 15 years ago. Such a crowd represents strong firepower in the EU’s day-to-day political life. Often the lobbyists concerned are so proficient at setting the agenda that the real question is not whether parliamentarians on the right or the left will get the upper hand, or whether it is Germany or France that gets its way. The question is, rather, whether larger firms will succeed in getting their demands met or their proposals adopted. The price to pay is the marginalisation of concerns for the common good and an enormous democratic deficit.

Kenneth Haar’s book looks at the extent of corporate influence in the EU, going beyond individual lobbying and analysing the power of big business in EU institutions at higher levels. Drawing on CEO’s immense work over the past years, “A Europe of Capital” provides extensive insights into the ways corporate power and lobbying serve as a driving force in the development of the European Union.

In this way, Haar highlights how corporate interests are entangled with EU strategies and objectives in crucial policy fields, ranging from trade and environmental policies to militarisation and big tech. To tackle the core elements of the EU’s democratic deficit, “A Europe of Capital” calls for a change that reflects contemporary political and class struggles, and a shift towards a systemic alternative to the competition model currently in place – one that puts democracy, sustainability and prosperity for “the many” at the centre. A must-read book that covers the bigger, long-term development of the EU into a “competition state” as seen from the insider perspective of a lobby watchdog.

• Panel: Kenneth Haar (CEO) and Özlem Demirel (MEP, Die Linke)
• Host: David Lundy (The LEFT)
• Language: English, German (simultaneous interpretation provided)

Please register HERE.