Bram Vranken
@bramvranken.bsky.social
Big Tech campaigner and researcher at @corporateeurope.org. Fighting corporate power ✊
War kills. War makes life unaffordable for the many. But war is great for profits. “Profits accounted for 13.9% of US economic output in the first quarter, the highest share recorded.” JPMorgan CEO Dimon said the environment was “getting close to as good as it gets”.
🔴 Today the European Commission unveiled its proposed revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), one of the EU’s flagship climate policies. At a time of record-breaking heatwaves across Europe, we need a climate strategy focused on reducing emissions at source, not on false solutions 👇
"Ireland's Enterprise Minister Peter Burke attended a private dinner with tech giant Meta at the US ambassador’s residence in February to discuss the “digital agenda for Ireland’s EU presidency,” amid a US drive to soften Europe’s policing of big tech." www.independent.ie/business/min...
Minister dined with Meta lobbyists at US ambassador’s residence amid US drive to soften Europe’s policing of big tech
Peter Burke’s intimate dinner with the tech giant’s reps was aimed at discussing ‘the digital agenda for Ireland’s EU presidency’
independent.ie
Dr Abeba Birhane@abeba.blacksky.app · 4w agoWe call on Ireland to recuse itself from digital and fiscal files during its presidency of the European Union due to the State’s ‘questionable track record’ on digital policy and corporate tax www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
We zijn uitgeleverd aan het grootkapitaal. Niet onze stem telt maar slechts of je bakken met geld hebt en een sterke lobby in Den Haag.
NRC@nrc.nl · 3w agoDatacenter Microsoft gebruikt 1 procent van alle Nederlandse stroom, Google wil geen inzage geven in verbruik
Exempt from transparency rules, the EU Commission's new so-called "Reality Checks" consultations are often attended only by lobbyists yet have shaped major deregulation proposals. Now the EU Ombudsman wants answers.
EU watchdog questions commission’s secretive ‘Reality Checks’ with corporate lobbyists
Exempt from transparency rules, the EU Commission's new so-called "Reality Checks" consultations are often attended only by lobbyists yet have shaped major deregulation proposals. Now the EU Ombudsman wants answers.
euobserver.com
Today, the EU Ombudsman opened an inquiry into the Commission's decision to keep important meetings with businesses secret. Their motive: to do proposals for deregulation without having to consider other interests than business interests. EUObserver has the story: euobserver.com/226371/eu-wa...
EU watchdog questions commission’s secretive ‘Reality Checks’ with corporate lobbyists
Exempt from transparency rules, the EU Commission's new so-called "Reality Checks" consultations are often attended only by lobbyists yet have shaped major deregulation proposals. Now the EU Ombudsma...
euobserver.com
We call on Ireland to recuse itself from digital and fiscal files during its presidency of the European Union due to the State’s ‘questionable track record’ on digital policy and corporate tax www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
Government should not chair EU debates on tech policy, academics say
Open letter criticises State’s ‘questionable track record’ on digital policy and corporate tax
irishtimes.com
Europe’s largest companies are seeing record profits but low investment. What do they do with the profits instead? Distribute them to shareholders, borrow to fund more payouts, and hoard earnings to maintain buffers for future distributions.
Captured! Published today with @eeb.org check out our new report and find out how industry captured the EU Commission’s Critical Chemicals Alliance, which is really bad news for action on chemicals & climate crises. www.corporateeurope.org/en/2026/07/c...
If companies can't run data centres without polluting our air and water, pushing up energy bills, abusing workers' rights, harming local communities or wrecking the climate – then they shouldn't be allowed to run them A safe climate and healthy environment are necessities – tech bro profits aren't
EU weighs weaker data centre climate rules in win for Big Tech
Past proposals for strict rules on renewable energy certificates have been dropped after heavy lobbying, draft shows
ft.com
🤯 Just as Europe experienced a deadly heatwave, the Commission is poised to give in to Big Tech's lobbying to greenwash dirty data centres. 🚫 Member states should today revise the Commission's terrible proposal.
EU weighs weaker data centre climate rules in win for Big Tech
Past proposals for strict rules on renewable energy certificates have been dropped after heavy lobbying, draft shows
ft.com
⛽"Fossil fuel emissions have rapidly worsened European heatwaves in just a few decades", according to @wwattribution.bsky.social 🔥Yet the power of fossil fuel companies to dictate all our futures continues. There are arsonists at the highest positions of influence in our societies. 1/
Tax omnibus: blank cheque for multinationals! It brings new tax breaks for corporations and weaker safeguards against avoidance! And of course, less revenue for public services already under pressure.
Tax Omnibus is a corporate handout that does nothing to address tax avoidance
This omnibus is in line with the corporate capture of the European Commission, at a moment the Commission delays publishing the Quality Jobs Act and legislation to improve workers’ rights to deal with...
epsu.org
The European Commission preliminarily concluded that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure should fall under the EU’s digital dominance rules, in a move that extends Europe’s most powerful tech regulation into cloud infrastructure for the first time.
EU says Amazon, Microsoft cloud services should fall under digital dominance rules
The decision marks an expansion of the Digital Markets Act beyond consumer tech into the €220 billion European market for cloud services.
politico.eu
Digital justice movements and platform workers challenge Big Tech’s power around the world. The food sovereignty movement is also active on digital issues. To fight back Big Tech we also need to build alliances with those confronting digital trade. grain.org/e/7380
Lincoln: #Democracy is government of the people, by the people, for the people! European tech CEOs: The EU must better serve our needs! We want to craft policy for ourselves. 🥂 🤑 #lobbying #industry #EUpolicy
UN Sec Gen Guterres calls out massive land, water and energy use of AI data centres, launching his "AI Environmental Transparency Initiative". That's the opposite approach to the EU, which copy-pasted Microsoft's demands against environmental transparency. www.un.org/sg/en/conten...
Secretary-General's special address at London Climate Action Week [as delivered]
Dear friends, All protocols observed.Thank you for your warm welcome – and Michael Bloomberg, thank you for your kind words – and for your longstanding and outstanding leadership on climate action. Yo...
un.org
🚨 This is what corporate capture looks like While business interests already have unprecedented access, tech CEO's are now calling for direct access to Ursula von der Leyen. Their demand? To speed up the Commission's radical deregulation agenda. 👉 corporateeurope.org/en/2026/04/w...
European tech CEOs want direct line to craft EU policy
CEOs of Airbus, ASML, Ericsson and others have von der Leyen’s attention to push for deregulation, consolidation.
politico.eu
🍪❌ With the #DigitalOmnibus, the EU Commission FINALLY wanted to get rid of cookie banners. However, Google and some EU Member States are now standing in the way. Find out more 👉 https://noyb.eu/en/eu-member-states-and-google-suddenly-want-keep-cookie-banners
A quick reaction to this amazing Politico story in which the head of Europe's biggest data centre lobby group just.............................................admits it www.politico.eu/article/euro... Longer version here w/ reckons on why GenAI ❤️ fossi lfuels so much youtu.be/FjfTm5NoOUY
🚨 Corporate interests now don't only have a seat at the table, they have an office in the Berlaymont. The appointment of Siemens chairman as the EU's AI envoy is an extraordinary conflict of interest, and will allow industry to shape the EU's AI policies. Read our op-ed on @euobserver.com
The EU’s new AI envoy is a tech CEO with extraordinary conflicts of interest
The EU Commission's decision to appoint the chair of Siemens, Jim Hagemann Snabe, as AI envoy is rife with extraordinary conflicts of interest. Brussels is currently engaged in an unprecedented rollba...
euobserver.com
Data center lobby claims that Europe must choose between having an AI industry or a livable future, citing CO₂-emitting gas plants as the only reliable power source for EU AI.
Europe must choose between AI and climate goals, data center lobby says
Tech sector says only carbon-emitting gas plants are reliable enough today to power the EU’s AI goals.
politico.eu
🚨 BREAKING: Overnight in Brussels We sent a clear message to EU leaders: 📣”Fight for us, not for Trump's billionaires.”
📣 Excited to announce that as part of this week's 'Informal Exchanges on AI in the Military Domain' at the UN in Geneva, @privacyinternational.org and @paxforpeace.nl tomorrow launch their report 'When algorithms go to war - Tech giants, the arms industry and the weaponisation of AI' at a side event
Les opérateurs de centres de données, Gafam en tête, ont mené un intense travail de lobbying autour de la loi “simplification” Leur objectif? Lever les règles environnementales et démocratiques qui pourraient retarder l’implantation de datacenters géants 🔗 multinationales.org/fr/enquetes/...
Derrière la loi « simplification », l'offensive des Big Tech et du lobby des datacenters
L'article 35 de la loi de simplification, finalement adoptée en avril 2026, crée le statut de « projet national d'intérêt majeur » qui vise à faciliter la construction rapide de nouveaux data centers....
multinationales.org
Palantir loses legal challenge against Swiss investigative magazine ft.trib.al/TS7SOJp
Palantir loses legal challenge against Swiss investigative magazine
Peter Thiel-chaired data intelligence group sued publication over reports that Switzerland rejected its approaches
ft.trib.al
The appointment of Siemens chairman Hagemann Snabe as AI Envoy is an extraordinary conflict of interest. Together with @lobbycontrol.bsky.social , @thegoodlobby.wsocial.eu and @transparency-eu.bsky.social, we have written to Ursula von der Leyen to revoke this appointment. 👉 shorturl.at/EFAFU 🧵
Von der Leyen’s AI pick triggers conflict-of-interest criticism
Siemens chair will advise the Commission on industrial applications of artificial intelligence.
politico.eu
Welcome to EU Corporate Lobby League 2026 where big money = big influence Today we will reveal: 🏭 Biggest corporate lobby sectors ✂️ Their lobby agenda to cut our protections 💪 What we can do about it By Corporate Europe Observatory & @lobbycontrol.bsky.social corporateeurope.org/en/2026/06/e...
