Jesse Pinster

A pump station every 150 kilometers, where you can fill up with hydrogen. The European Commission hopes that this will encourage the use of the energy carrier. But with the hydrogen revolution nowhere in sight, the EU executive’s plans could well prove to be an expensive disappointment.

Lise Witteman

Now that Brussels is disbursing the first tens of billions from the covid Recovery and Resilience Facility, it appears that the Member States have made it virtually impossible to check how the money is spent and who benefits from it. Despite the risks of fraud and corruption with EU funds being above average, several countries are doing their utmost to avoid public scrutiny.

Peter Teffer

The European Parliament and the European Commission no longer want to be targeted by lobbyists from Russian companies. For months now, the Council of the European Union, chaired by France, has ignored this cry for help.

Ada Homolová & Peter Teffer

Members of the European Parliament receive a monthly allowance of 4778 euros for office expenditure, but there is no supervision on how they spend this money. Since 2019, MEPs can use the Parliament’s website to publicly declare that they have spent their taxpayers’ money legitimately. Less than 4 percent of the 705 MEPs made use of that opportunity.

Jesse Pinster

'At the height of a crisis, it is up to EU leaders to come up with solutions.' These are the words of Jan Werts (82), seasoned Dutch journalist, publicist, and Europe expert. And, over the past fifteen years, one crisis has followed another in rapid succession. The financial crisis, the Euro crisis, the migration crisis, the Brexit crisis, the coronavirus crisis, and now Ukraine. Cause for Follow the Money to talk to Werts about leadership in Europe in times of trouble.

Jesse Pinster & Lise Witteman

European citizens can rest assured: the hundreds of billions of the European Recovery and Resilience Fund will be well spent. Céline Gauer, who spearheads this groundbreaking project, brushes off criticism about its lack of transparency, fraud risks or the hurdles in the involvement of stakeholders and national parliaments. She is confident about the new step that the EU is taking towards European integration.

Lise Witteman

European car manufacturers are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the European Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF). These Brussels billions have been earmarked to accelerate the green transition. Problem is, part of these automotive investments could actually extend fossil fuel use, and with it, the stifling dependence on Russian gas and oil.

Peter Teffer

Finnish professor of European law Päivi Leino-Sandberg has written a book about the invisible players in the Brussels equation: the legal advisors of the EU institutions. They are indispensable in the legal underpinning of further steps in European integration. However, according to Leino-Sandberg, they do not serve the general interest but rather their employer’s: the EU institution.

Thomas Bollen

Dutch citizens have been asked to show solidarity with southern Europe. But Italy is not the only one needing help. If citizens do not provide financial support, the European banking sector is at risk of going under – again.