ins and sometimes keith had the answers and sometimes they didn't and finally i believe it was on my seventh meeting with keith when i said to keith you know i can write up out there so i can have all these different interviews but i really want to see the pieces of paper and keith said to me well you know i have a bunch of cardboard boxes in the basement of the we haven't opened them they're from the earlier days we just we just put this material in the boxes and of course you know in the back of my mind i was very excited thinking this is it. green colson came across or tell x. . it was from visit decker see your phillips. in december ninety five he wrote to the heads of state just before the signing of the single european fact but started the process of the single market. the crux of

the tallackson is as follows you know we don't know what you're going to do but we want you to act you can act one way or another if you choose not to have a single market program then you have given us no choice but perhaps take our business elsewhere. this was a clear fred the year two we presented sixty percent of western europe's industrial output this was blackmail. why did not a single government say anything about the decker tailbacks. or about the other friend start followed. they were elected representatives.

we felt that this was a betrayal and we wanted to do something about it it's important for a bigger public to know about this and we decided to publish a book. and besides collecting data we started to make interviews. undercover interviews. finally in spring one thousand nine hundred seventy we assembled the results of our investigations and interviews into a report europe. was scheduled to launch for the big use some of them so that all the media would be there we were excited as. we had prepared the book launch and half an hour before the first friends started arriving but. very little or no pressure showed up. so unfortunately our first public events was really not noticed as part of.

the job of the writers down this road block today and groove a key exercise the strengthening of the rules based system of multilateral crate. and perhaps most important be establishment of a strong broadly based well trained organizer. i started to work on the financial side assist gats negotiations that were really the time when i discovered this is we just like we'd like to do that. we've come to the end of the most far reaching trade negotiation ever. the negotiators of the hundred and seventeen governments and richie to make stuart ray success. with your approval there my gavel to your.

internal market of you was becoming any very important market rich market with the high g.d.p. per capita and that when the european union was going outside and negotiate as a bloc they had a real power because it was a biggest exporter the biggest importer the biggest foreign investor. but so in britain the trade commission of the european union was complaining that i with every time he was going to negotiate with the united states in front of him we see his counterpart over here you have your office in and garden audiences three or four years and on his back he would have c.e.o.'s of big bangs a big insurance company telling please do that for me please do that for us but winterland britain was turning its back to see where its report was it was actually having only some minister saying don't do this don't do that and please do that it

only but not more and he was really not very happy with you and that we discovered that there is a whole world of lobbyists in washington to tell their government what they want in the trade. and we thought this is the way we have to go we have to do something like that the european institutions is asking for it these institutions cannot only rely on the information given by the member states and the expert in the finance ministry is by they need to get the information directly from the the bank that the insurance company. sold then at a point in time european commission a so in britain decided ok there is association i'm not really serious about this issue i am going to invite for dinner fourteen see you of the major services companies in europe so it's about big banks big telecom big insurance big decisions services big transport services big tour is.

some companies when you take all the different sectors it is actually making about seventy percent of the g.d.p. in europe so we invited the bunch of forty of those. and. after dinner he said well now that you've got some some food by the commission you only saw things you have to do something for me people sometimes think that the commission comes up with ideas out of the blue and pushes them it's not so a tool the commission is thirsty for ideas from cannot make acton's to help us to decide what to put food riches in the interests of europe. this is where the idea of creating a network of association and companies pushing for the trade in services he was by the private sector came up i became managing director of the open services for. relief. in general night and after nine we had. eleven months to

prepare seattle first. a ministerial conference after the creation of this organisation in ninety four and the idea was that this meeting is going to lounge the millenium ground that's so you know britain had so much push for. britain never got to see how tall the entire commission had to resign because of the massive fraud several commissioners were involved in. the millennium round itself took a completely unexpected turn. i was facing the hotel and there's a conference within the sheraton five hundred metres away and i have not been allowed to go out of the hotel because it was one protester blocking the door by lying. and it was a police officer beside him an area. can i go outside please i would like to go and

do my job. i was going to assist to so loud of the c.s. around so that we will enter into a new phase in negotiation oliver is a libra zation of the service. i remember of that commission and the media has been blocking i mean yes we name for two and terry's car but the car couldn't move because of those people they're just there and the policeman say please go away in five metres so that the v.i.p.'s here can do his job. many n.g.o.s say that yourself is a secret secret organisation having secret meetings you can commission all the everything is on their website i mean i am doing my job by contacting the commission and the officials responsible for my file if anybody else would like to do the same there's as their phone number is on the in the world on the website i'm just doing my job and i don't have anything specific but is a commission has some relationship with the surface because it commission is willing to get some information from the services sectors before negotiating on

their behalf because this is what we're talking about trade is done by companies not by n.g.o.s. this is the annual dinner if the french if you're a teacher is really a very big organization and lots and lots of people from different countries different jobs different walks of life who do all interested in. how can you develop with the right things to do wrong and how can you build a lot we've already done. that inclusive thing trying. to introduce it in brussels are you feeling a part of the vacuum that exists or do you live with that there is no european promptly to base. the syntax to step into that vacuum and they are the forums in which something like a debate happens inside the brussels board. there are no. military generals here

european politicians mysterious civil servant said and the dreaded you know it creates a good department store of business men get their faces from universities will soon see people wondering about bristles easy to read like it really everybody will still want to not read or when i will to be on to moderate my job is to keep in contact. think tanks are not themselves lobbyists but they are part of the landscape of lobbying because companies use them to transmit their demands from their their perspectives and hence all of these are heavily dependent on industry funding. several people are sponsoring it microsoft is one of the american business is presently knew it microsoft is one of the why not. have had think tanks in brussels that were directly funded by the oil industry and that were working to sort out about whether it or such

a thing as climate change and whether it's important for governments to act is to reduce c o two emissions. or. you can set up research institutes to provide you with. research that's kind of strengthens your position. you can launch message p.r. campaigns and flood the media with your information. what also happens is setting up fake n.g.o.s as happened in the big battle about the software patents law suddenly there were these advertisements from an enduro that's said it was representing small and medium sized companies puts the financial backers of this as you hope for microsoft and has had people. in the end it's all about money in democracy it's one person one vote but in the brussels basis it's one euro one faults the problem it's we don't know about. the money behind politics we don't

know how much is being spent on lobbying by who can reach issues. we need to put this on the democrats control it has to be made visible want to roll is of lobbying the decision making what is to role of a large company like monsanto or shell. i never knew adam lanza in person but i was in the same high school as adam he was younger than me just a little bit younger. i always thought he was different i always intercity funny he rarely talks and you don't use a shy kid. i don't know of anyone who is friends with him i also don't know of anyone who is particularly mean to the what i do know is that it was very clear that this person was not like everybody else. can imagine the level of mental illness that would be present to murder children. america's you know so when you go on this there would be an

american behind every tree with a gun. for kids growing up in this environment is good for them at an early age to least see the gun and respect it because they need to know what kind of damage it can do. this is our first task as a society. keeping our children safe. this is how we will be judged. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.

so.

so one of my first testimonies before the european commission was a very very awake me spirits. i had one commissioner interrupt me and say well we understand you had a problem in the united states with lobbying activities but he went on to say but you know this is brussels and this is europe we don't have that kind of activity going on here which just kind of floored me that anyone could be so naive. my more perhaps a fact of answer was ok i'll concede that a lot of these k. street lobbyists and the professional lobbyists here in the united states may be corrupt. yes however i know every major k.

street lobby shop also has a lobby shop in brussels and so we're in your bed europe don't you want to know if you think that we are so corruptible and so corrupting don't you want to know who we are and who's paying for us and what it is we're trying to get you to do for us. we had to decide to regulate lobbying for a long time. before the new commission came in and for the first time ten eastern european countries were part of. the first burst of commission started its in autumn two thousand and four we wrote an open letter to the commission president. signed by over fifty n.g.o.s.

when i would just like to say thank your. that's a very sincere thank you for the confidence which you just voiced and invested in me and i'd like to say to you that i understand this vote of confidence as also implying huge responsibility on my part and we are going to work hard give our all to serve europe to serve the institutions of the european union and to serve all our coast citizens of europe thing you know the response was a very short formal letter saying we received your letter sent you very interesting . but no substantial response.

so we sent a similar letter to all the presidents of the commission. and suddenly towards the end of february we were contacted by the office of the same color as commissioner from estonia responsible for administration inviting us to come over. so we went to mr callouses office which was somewhere in the top of the building. we didn't know what we had to expect from this meeting we had never been approached by a commission so in that sense it was very exciting were welcomed by mr colors himself and one of his cabinet members. in this and mystical as a brochure and that made us smile it was a lovely plan it got to brussels which was a tongue in cheek very critical look at industry lobbying in the you written by eric and me in our our colleagues. when i started as

a mistress and commission and i really souls that was so so weak suspicion surrounding so decision making in european union. of course i. say establish for myself a purpose do a little to reduce the suspicions. told her step he was going to launch this european transparency initiative and we immediately saw that these rules are because political opportunity. as an outsider to brussels business he also had a clear sense for how the ordinary citizen about brussels. and some colors to get on with the lobby in the street. european commission is going to it's that's activities of interests representatives are legitimate and offer a valuable input into decision making process things have to happen in a transparent manner the commission can see that. but these important to know. the

percent that they saw are what the interests they represent and against what financial background my book. would say efforts to do creates a speech at the makes a speech and. of course outlined main principles of transparency initiative which will be done and of course. a lot of controversial reactions on if you know without financial transparency we'll never find out who really is behind the campaigning stick. a little bit more control on ourselves we can harm our reputation with our voters that last but it cannot be transparency must not for closer contact with real life with interest groups or groups without interest thank you commissioner callous and certainly understand this. when the european union was considering the european transparency initiative they were looking for some advice as to how some

of these achievements happened in the us and as a result i was brought out about half a dozen different times to testify before the european commission in the european parliament to tell the truth i was very impressed with some callers when i first started working with him in the european commission some callers helped really the whole significance of needing transparency. he was very adamant at first about setting up a mandatory disclosure system having full transparency but halfway through the process some callers came up against the political reality and. after four years of struggle and political fights and exhausted commissioner answered the stage to finally launch a lobby register a group. with no known or often. so. quite that unlockable moment today. three years ago i

proposed. to set up the register of lobbyists and in order to enhance don't spend a cent and legitimacy i don't say i'm healed this in making process and that is that it opens from today. so we proposed voluntary solution because i was i am convinced that cease would suit for all expect basins and i async that two days there is a very important moment of cultural change. concerning zeese. aspect of this isn't making in european institutions. some cause introduced a voluntary system against all recommendations by n.g.o.s and experts this was the best he could get. we have tried for over two years known to find

out who had blocked colossus' or original intention. where it other commissioners the commission secretary and the lobbyist themselves. one month after the financial crisis started in october two thousand and eight. point at the independent high level group on financial supervision. the group was to work our proposals for the regulation of the financial markets and to find a way out of the financial crisis. eight so-called wise men were appointed to this group. and i must say that on the reading of my easing mccarty nashik bills were over each just. pettus found on this and lost

nuclear. we looked into the independence of this independent group and we found some mess on it and things. the lover she is the co-chair of a financial lobby organization. linked to lehman brothers. greeting to citi group leasing to goldman sachs. mccarty nuber and bunch of always are notorious deregulators. and paris for non this works to provide financial market intelligence to big banks. free of the eight were directly linked to american banks all of which were directly involved in causing the crisis. which in addition closely linked to american right wing think tanks like the cato institute this was one of the closest advisors to the bush administration he was also involved in the liberal think tanks and brussels and poland and the u.k.

. all the single of these wise men there was in favor of strict regulation now the single one of them was really independence and the effect of these eight wise men on overcoming the financial crisis was zero the main thing that happened was that a lot of public money was flowing to the banks. is eve. barack . this whole affair has a horrible sense of digital the same financial institutions that were bailed out with taxpayers' money are now making a fortune from greece's misfortune where those same taxpayers are paying the price in deep cuts to their salaries and social services.

after twenty years of deregulation and liberalisation suddenly the european union herself was at the edge of being blown up. what is at stake is not only the european union but also democracy and the future of the values that we hold dear. was a dis what we europeans had wanted. wasn't really naive to have a european dream. in the human nature and yet not on the good you always have about side some. and we need to make sure that we keep only the good and therefore you need relation .

when you live in a society you have groups because otherwise people are going to fasten on on the motorway because people are not respected elders because the stronger take this space this is this is human nature what we have done to go and make sure that we live together is by creating legislation in place by creating an authority that everyone respect.

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