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30,000 lobbyists — and counting. The sheer number of corporate lobbyists that influence EU policy-making, and the financial firepower available to them, constitute a challenge to democracy, social rights, peace, and the planet. In this book, lobbying researcher and campaigner Kenneth Haar explores how corporate representatives have shaped the institutional foundations of the EU. He examines how they inscribed their vision into its fundamental principles, constructing a “European competition state”, marginalizing concern for the common good, and generating an enormous democratic deficit.
The author brings a wealth of material and his long-standing expertise to bear on a range of policy areas, from trade to big tech, from patents to weapons deals, from the European Monetary Union to climate, and more. 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 Europe of Capital is a rich resource for everyone looking to understand the workings of corporate interest representation in the EU, both in general and in a range of policy areas. It provides a comprehensive, clear-eyed, and unflattering assessment of what has become of the EU, where it is headed, and how to guide it in a direction that prioritizes people over profit.
