#ALTEREU2013 General Assembly: Standing up to big business lobbies: Reclaiming Europe for the public interest + AGENDA

Recently, various high-profile scandals have convinced many people that something is seriously wrong with European decision-making, being so prone to industry lobbying. Be it the influence of big tobacco companies on proposals to regulate the tobacco industry, to American internet giants targetting new EU rules on data privacy. More and more, Brussels is a lobbying battlefield, where decisions are made that affect people all over the world. 

Next year, in 2014, the European Parliament elections will take place. This will be a moment where there is far more public attention for EU issues, and where MEPs – seeking (re-)election – are more open for discussion than might normally be the case. We think far-reaching lobby transparency and bold ethics rules are key to ensure the accountability of EU decision-makers. ALTER-EU is determined to make lobbying transparency and ethics regulation one of the major 2014 elections campaign issues, and we would like to involve you in strategising for this campaign.

Attached you will find the agenda, which includes - we think - an interesting mix of topics and participating organisations. Fortunately, some lobby battles are won by public interest campaign groups, like the impressive effort made by many to prevent ACTA from becoming a reality. We will have inspiring opening speeches, including by one of the leading groups that brought ACTA down, and are looking forward to hearing from activists from the anti-austerity campaign, as well as an engaging high-level debate about the 'Lessons from a Lobbycracy' with members of the European Parliament and a representative of the European Commission's department for transparency. We will also have a "Dalligate" lobby tour through the European quarter, workshops on issues ranging from water privatisation to financial sector lobbying, as well as several tasty meals to share together and socialise over. 

We look forward to warmly welcoming you to our assembly on 10 and 11 April in Brussels, so book your place now: http://alter-eu.org/registration/assembly-2013.