A broad coalition of civil society organisations from across Europe have today (15 April 2014) launched a campaign to demand that candidates for the European elections on 22 May stand up for citizens and democracy against the excessive lobbying influence of banks and large, unaccountable corporations.
The campaign is an initiative of the ALTER-EU Alliance together with the Brussels offices of AK Europa and the Austrian Trade Union Confederation ÖGB.
The anti-poverty charity War on Want, which is part of the alliance, says millions of citizens across Europe are waking up to the threat posed by corporate lobbying of EU institutions, particularly in light of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently being negotiated in secret between the European Commission and the USA.
The centrepiece of the campaign is an interactive website which any EU citizen can use to contact their European candidates directly and invite them to sign the pledge.
The website, which is accessible in 12 European languages, features case studies explaining how excessive industry lobbying impacts upon the daily lives of ordinary EU citizens, as well as information about how MEPs can stand up to it.
Prominent MEPs have already signed up to the Politics for People campaign. These include: Ska Keller, joint European Commission President candidate for the Greens; Gabi Zimmer, leader of the GUE-NGL bloc; Evelyn Regner from the Socialists Group; Monica Macovei from the European People's Party; and Corinne Lepage from ALDE; with over 40 MEPs signed up in total.
*Politics for people page here: http://politicsforpeople.eu/
* The campaign can be followed on Twitter via #pforp and @altereu.
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