Exposed: The role of Big Finance in ECB decisions

Exposed: The role of Big Finance in ECB decisions

A new report by the European Corporate Observatory shows how international financial corporations hold 98% of the seats in the expert groups that advise the European Central Bank (ECB).
In other words: a ton of lobbyists for Big Finance are perilously close to the centre of decision making at a key EU institution, while civil society organisations and academics are nowhere to be seen.
The ECB is responsible for administering the Eurozone’s monetary policy, and is one of the three entities that makes up the ‘Troika’, responsible for imposing harsh austerity on countries like Greece and Ireland. Its mission, it explains, is “to serve the people of Europe”. If you think that the corporations officially advising the ECB, like BNP Paribas and Société Générale, have the people’s interests at heart… well, think again!
The murky world of ECB decision making is nothing new to DiEM25. Since our inception, we’ve called for full transparency in decision making at the ECB and other EU institutions. More recently, we started a campaign to demand that the ECB publish vital files relating to its treatment of Greece in 2015. Nearly 30,000 people have signed the petition so far.
Want to be part of the solution? Get involved or, if you have alternative proposals, mail us!
 

Jane is a member of our London DSC and blogs at www.ambitiousmamas.co.uk on feminism, politics and race. You can also follow her on Twitter.

 

Do you want to be informed of DiEM25's actions? Sign up here

The spirit of Brexit has infected the EU

It is a tragic indictment of the EU's leaders that, by holding out against moderate but fundamental political change, they guaranteed the ...

Read more

US elections 2024: What little choice

The genocide in Gaza is shedding a new spotlight on how many in the US feel trapped by the country's two-party system

Read more

Don’t kill the messenger, arrest the perpetrators

The last two years have been among the deadliest years in the world for journalists and media professionals, particularly in Palestine

Read more

DiEM25 condemns Israel’s targeting of journalists and demands media accountability

We call upon everyone to stand in solidarity with journalists facing targeted violence, especially those covering the current crisis in Gaza

Read more