Bureau Brussels
Where there is power, we follow the money. With Bureau Brussels, we pledge to closely monitor politicians and lobbyists in Brussels. Not as a side issue, but as a permanent priority.
About Bureau Brussels
Power resides in Brussels; in the field of climate, industry, or the financial system the most important decisions are made in the European capital. What happens on the level of the European Union might even be more important than national politics. And yet, national headlines dominate the front pages across the continent, whilst Brussels is rarely featured, if at all.
The powers of industry realised this a long time ago. There are an estimated 30,000 lobbyists roaming around the European capital, as many lobbyists as there are European Commission officials.
In effect, corporations and interest groups are constantly trying to influence the decision-making process. Meanwhile, European journalism lacks the necessary resources to sufficiently monitor their behaviour; less than a thousand journalists are supposed to inform 450 million Europeans across 27 countries.
It’s absurd, really. With Bureau Brussels, we pledge to change this. We will monitor politicians and lobbyists in Brussels closely and treat scrutinising the powers that be not as a side issue but as a permanent priority. Because where power resides, we follow the money.
Corrupt EU officials escape justice after a decade of probes
How I helped The New York Times to sue the European Commission
From Huawei to Shell: corporate lobbies unimpededly recruit former EU Parliament staff
EU countries fork out billions to hang on to electricity guzzling industry
How an old boy’s network hijacked Europe’s plan for a green future
Europe’s quest for more economic independence – and its pitfalls
Prominent EU Commissioner gratefully accepted royal treatment in the Emirates
Cash for reforms? Hard choices yet to come for EU’s recovery fund
Brussels struggles to weed out shady consultancies
MEP working on tech laws sees no problem in owning Apple stock
Cash from Qatar: how could this happen in the European Parliament?
Putin’s oligarchs the EU prefers not to punish
Not a side issue, but a permanent priority
Working method
Bureau Brussels is Follow the Money’s team of EU specialists that closely engages with the under-developed political-journalistic landscape of ‘Europe’. We want to shed light on hidden interests and we will use hard-hitting journalism to reveal the intricacies of the policymaking process, power structures and the flow of money across the European continent.
Bureau Brussels does what Follow the Money always does: investigate people, systems and organisations that misbehave or cause damage (financially and economically) to society. We sift through policy documents, investigate behind the scenes processes and dig into annual reports. With Bureau Brussels we do so specifically from an international, European perspective, with the various EU institutions as our focus.
We believe that by working together with other media, we can monitor power even better. Whenever possible, Bureau Brussels looks for opportunities to collaborate with journalists across Europe to scrutinise Brussels’ playing field.
