Moreover, according to the globalist Brussels paper, there is also a problem with the transparency of the union.
For a hidden lobby group with a budget of nearly 6 million euros (2.3 billion forints), revealed the Politico article, which Mandiner . According to the portal, the operation of the "think tank" called Euroif - which provides businesses with access to EU politicians and decision-makers - causes serious concerns about the transparency of the operation of the union.
The scale of Eurofi's revenues now makes it one of the largest EU lobby groups - despite officially having only three full-time employees and no publicly available accounts.
Senior members of the European Parliament, who play an influential role in financial legislation, revealed to Politico that Eurofi paid for their stays in posh hotels and part of their travel.
The organization achieved an income of 5.7 million euros (2.2 billion forints) in 2023, and its contributors included the largest companies, from the largest banks, through stock exchanges, to technology giants - including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and American Express - revealed the July transparency reports, which are the first publicly available information on the organization's finances in years.
This means that it has more resources than the big banking lobbies, the pharmaceutical industry lobby (the Federation of European Pharmaceutical Federations and Associations), or the business group BusinessEurope.
According to financial insiders, Eurofi charges its "customers" a fee of 50,000 euros (HUF 19 million). A table at a gala dinner, a room for a meeting, or a CEO's seat on a panel at a conference all come with extra costs.
According to Politico, while no crime is involved, the situation raises concerns about the nature of lobbying in the EU:
Who pays and how much, and what influence do they buy with their money?
The influence of the financial sector in Brussels has been clearly visible in recent years: lighter rules have been introduced for banks and insurance companies than demanded by experts, and they have achieved "remarkable success" in mowing down reforms that might harm the sector's interests.
Politico made several attempts to contact Eurofi for answers to questions raised in the article, including about the lack of transparency. Jean-Marie Andres, Eurofi's senior staff member, responded curtly to some of the portal's questions, then stated that he was not authorized to speak to journalists. The essence of what he said was that Eurofire should not be seen as a lobbyist, but as an "organiser of discussions".
The organization was created by Jacques de Larosière, the former governor of the French central bank. The organization is headed by David Wright, a former British EU official, and the day-to-day affairs are managed by the French Didier Cahen.
Conferences organized by Eurofit are usually held before the meeting of EU finance ministers, when the highest-ranking officials are already on site. According to Politico's sources, the "conference" is just a side story, the real events take place during the lobbying at the events.
Conferences take place completely behind closed doors. Journalists are being banned, and the Politico staff was thrown out of the hotel that hosted last fall's conference in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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