Icon: enlarge
Berlaymont building in Brussels, seat of the European Commission: US tech companies are spending a lot of money lobbying the EU
Photo: viennaslide / imago images
Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft together spend more than 20 million euros annually on their lobbying activities in Europe.
For comparison: the seven largest automobile groups together come to just under eight million euros.
Research by the LobbyControl organization shows that some of the influential companies do not list their membership in so-called think tanks.
These think tanks, also known as think tanks, try to influence public opinion and political debates by organizing panel discussions, writing strategy papers or conducting studies.
Companies also use their work to specifically lobby.
LobbyControl accuses the tech companies of lack of transparency and has lodged a complaint with the secretariat of the EU transparency register.
The spokesman for the transparency initiative Max Bank says: "It is time for Facebook, Google and Co. to disclose their lobby networks in Europe."
In the case of Facebook alone, LobbyControl lists a total of six think tanks that have not been entered in the EU lobby register - more than any other company.
In response to a request from SPIEGEL, Facebook wrote: "We thank LobbyControl for drawing our attention to this omission. We are in the process of updating our entry in the EU transparency register."
Think tanks don't always disclose supporters
Amazon and Apple were faster, both added their register entries shortly after LobbyControl's complaint.
Amazon had not previously indicated its membership in the Think Tank Center on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), which deals with network regulation and telecommunications, among other things.
Apple is also a member of CERRE and the European Policy Center (EPC), a Brussels think tank that is close to the EU institutions.
A few days ago, Apple had not yet listed both think tanks in the EU lobby register.
LobbyControl found no violations of the transparency obligations at Microsoft.
However, Microsoft states that it is a member of the European Center for International Political Economy (ECIPE).
The think tank is committed to worldwide free trade and supports the dismantling of trade barriers.
The
However, ECIPE does not list Microsoft as a member.
When asked, the think tank declares that it has no members at all, but that it receives grants from various donors - including Microsoft.
The fact that the think tanks do not always state who finances them or works with them is also shown by the amalgamation between the Center for Data Innovation (CDI) and Google.
For example, Google enters in the lobby register that it is a member of the CDI, a think tank that deals with the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, among other aspects.
In response to a request from SPIEGEL, the CDI announced that it was an independent think tank and pointed out that companies could falsely claim to be members even though they only supported the CDI financially.
LobbyControl also registered two transparency violations with Google: The technology group does not indicate memberships in the German Marshall Fund and Transatlantic Policy Network think tanks.
Google itself announced that it will update its information every year.
The company works with various think tanks for studies, events or discussions.
There is no general thrust.
Entries only need to be updated once a year
In fact, the EU's transparency rules stipulate that lobbyists have to update their information in the register at least once a year.
The fact that not all memberships are listed in the think tanks may well be a snapshot.
But it also shows that transparency is not particularly high on the priority list of the large technology companies.
According to LobbyControl, tech companies have been intensifying their lobbying work for years.
Working with think tanks is part of it.
The spokesman for Max Bank says: "We are observing that the big tech companies are massively increasing their lobbying work in Europe. That the big five in the industry (Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft) are now spending twice as much on lobbying as the powerful car lobby, reflects the growing power of Facebook, Google and Co. "
Corporations are particularly likely to try to influence the European Union in their favor.
Because the EU wants to present a first draft for a new
directive
that could strictly regulate platforms: the Digital Services Act.
The law could, at least EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton wishes, ensure that in extreme cases the corporations are broken up or that the EU prohibits them from doing business in Europe.
Icon: The mirror
