Several trade unions and transparency organizations including the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) have called upon the new European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker to revise the representation of corporate interests in the EC’s expert groups, according to a CEO press release published September 1, 2014. Expert groups are formed in the beginning of the legislative process in order to provide expert opinion and advice to the EC. In response to a public consultation of the European Ombudsman on the topic, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), UNI and CEO have pointed out that the current rules for expert groups are inadequate in preventing excessive corporate involvement in the legislative process. Current rules further fail to ensure consistency across different EC departments. In their submissions, the organizations urge the EC to reduce the number of seats held by corporate interests.

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Corporate Observatory Europe (September 1, 2014). “New Commission must end corporate dominance of EU expert groups.

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