Emily in Brussels

BONJOUR. On Tuesday, I woke up early and headed across gray, cloudy Brussels to see an old friend — the Palace of Justice. I was hoping to report on an important decision on Qatargate, the EU’s favorite/biggest corruption scandal, which is dragging on and on and…
It turns out that there was no decision that morning — rather a procedural measure taken discreetly in the afternoon, which defense lawyers claimed was a massive victory (it’s not) and which the Belgian prosecutor’s spokesperson didn’t feel interesting enough to comment on (it is), despite numerous calls, text and emails left unanswered. 
A long collapse. To paraphrase a hyped report writer, Qatargate is facing “slow agony.” That’s because of a seeming absence of either the will or the money to tackle corruption. It’s a common feeling in Brussels to walk for hours along endless corridors and into empty halls for work and yet feel that the results are impalpable — if not meaningless — as the result of a weird, complicated machine (whether that’s the EU or the Belgian justice system or doubtless others).
These boots are made for walking. But as one of my favorite police sources once told me, you should always separate an important story from its legal consequences and the media attention (yikes). So that means walking in the haunted (it feels haunted!) Palace of Justice, going to events where you meet no one, learn nothing and where the food is gross. I wouldn’t dare say that the joy is in the journey rather than the destination, but when it’s pouring rain after a long day, I try to motivate myself by singing Nancy Sinatra’s famous song as I try to reach a new destination. I just wish my boots would stop squeaking. 
**A message from European Digital Rights (EDRi): We’re facing a choice about our digital future – conform to Big Tech’s agenda or create our own. It’s time to reclaim power and build a future that centers what truly matters: people, planet, democracy. Join us at the Tech and Society Summit on October 1 in Brussels.**
Today we’re talking about:
— The influence game behind the prestigious Sakharov Prize
— Emily O’Reilly’s adieu 
— Meta holding the pen for an international lobbying campaign
— The outgoing Commission met with the fossil fuel industry almost every working day
PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS. To the outside world, the Sakharov Prize is one of the highest honors in the field of human rights, embodying values that remind us there’s more to the EU than trade deals and competition rules. The winner (an individual or a group) is rewarded for making an outstanding contribution to freedom of thought and gets  €50,000. Previous winners include Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, and the people of Ukraine. 
Nothing but a target. But to foreign intelligence officials and their accomplices, the award is something else to watch and try and influence. In the past, European intelligence services have noticed that non-EU countries were heavily involved in the nomination process.
The deets: According to a declassified 2022 report by the Belgian secret service obtained by yours truly last year, an allegedly corrupt network operating on behalf of foreign governments at the heart of the European Parliament moved to influence the Sakharov Prize in favor of Morocco. The allegation followed an original tip-off from “very reliable intelligence” that Belgian spies received from an unnamed “trusted European intelligence service,” according to an annex to that report. 
Moroccan or Mauritanian interests. The spy report handed to police as part of the investigation that would become Qatargate said one of Morocco’s main objectives was to influence the EU’s stance on Western Sahara, a disputed territory south of the country where Rabat has waged a decades-long fight against an armed independence movement led by the Polisario Front. According to the report, one potential Sakharov Prize nominee — an anti-slavery activist — was blocked in order to satisfy the political agenda of Mauritania. 
With an anti-Azerbaijan activist and Palestinian nominees this year, Sakharov candidates proposed by political groups or individual MEPs are again at the center of conflicts. Don’t forget, if you observe undue operations, please reach out. 
The nominees this year: 
— Edmundo González Urrutia, Venezuela (nominated by the European Conservatives and Reformists)
— Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, Azerbaijan (nominated by the Greens/EFA)
— Journalists Hamza and Wael AlDahdouh, Plestia Alaqad, Shireen Abu Akleh and Ain Media in honor of Yasser Murtaja and Roshdi Sarraj, Palestine (nominated by the Left)
— María Corina Machado as the leader of the democratic forces in Venezuela and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia, representing all Venezuelans inside and outside the country fighting for the reinstitution of freedom and democracy, Venezuela (nominated by the EPP)
— Elon Musk, United States (nominated by the Patriots for Europe)
— Women Wage Peace & Women of the Sun, Israel/Palestine (nominated by Renew Europe)
— Women Wage Peace & Women of the Sun and their co-founders Yael Admi and Reem Hajajreh, Israel/Palestine (nominated by S&D)
EMILY IN BRUSSELS. She’s the closest thing the EU has to an ethics watchdog and although the role of ombudsman comes with no real teeth, Emily O’Reilly often showed the canines behind her warm smile. That’s a summation of the moving speeches during the goodbye drinks on Wednesday for O’Reilly, who’s leaving by the end of the year after two mandates.
Her main achievements, according to vice president of the European Parliament Katarina Barley, include tackling the risks caused by revolving doors, upholding the right to participate in environmental regulations, looking into the administration of Frontex (the EU’s border agency), and calling out the Commission on the secrecy behind some of its decisions.
The quotes: 
— “When you’re a woman in politics, you’re often told don’t try to be everybody’s darling. It’s very good advice for the office that you hold” — Katerina Barley
— “We have been your biggest client, which is normal given our size” — Commissioner Věra Jourová
— “Thanks to her wide interpretation of the office mandate, the ombudsman … has become a genuine guardian” — academic Alberto Alemanno.
To the moon. Emily O’Reilly did not prepare her speech with her team and surprised everyone with a fun reworking of an anecdote from the time John F. Kennedy visited NASA. During his tour of the facility, JFK met a janitor who was carrying a broom down the hallway and said he was helping to land a man on the moon. “My office sweeps the floor,” O’Reilly said, but that didn’t mean doing so “obediently.” She said her job was to hold those who make the rules accountable, protect the rule of law, maintain the accessibility of information, and work for the general interest.
Who’s next? My colleague Sarah Wheaton and I spotted three candidates to replace O’Reilly at the swanky bash, drinking wine in a relaxed setting. As part of a not-that-transparent election process, all candidates need 39 signatures from MEPs by Monday. There’s no official list circulating with the number of candidates and the names of those who make the cut will only be announced in November.
META’S OPEN LETTER BLOWBACK: Last week, leading European companies including Spotify and Ericsson signed a letter calling for regulatory certainty in the EU on AI. But the letter is receiving pushback because it was led by U.S. tech giant Meta, my colleague Pieter Haeck writes in to report.
Meta’s handwriting: Mark Zuckerberg and Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun both signed the letter, which was printed in a German newspaper and the Financial Times with clear labels that Meta was the responsible publisher or that Meta paid for the ad. Meta Platforms is also the domain administrator for the EUneedsai.com campaign site.
More Meta-affiliates: Researchers pointed out that some of the other 49 signatories also had links to Meta, either obvious or more subtle.
For example, Essilor Luxottica and Meta teamed up on Ray-Ban smart glasses, and the civil society groups Institute for Competitiveness and La Villa Numeris both have Meta (or Facebook) listed as a partner on their sites. Elsewhere, the links are more subtle: Photoroom reportedly has Meta (and LeCun) as an investor; while Fully AI lists Meta as a client on its site.
“By my count, around a third … are either employed by Meta, funded by Meta or in a close partnership with Meta,” Margarida Silva, a researcher at the Centre For Research on Multinational Corporations, wrote on X. Zuckerberg and Spotify’s Daniel Ek last month also teamed up publicly on the topic.
Claims of misdirection: “With an international lobby campaign against the regulation of artificial intelligence, Meta is trying to create an impression that a broad alliance is against a strict implementation of EU rules,” Felix Duffy and Max Bank of German transparency initiative Lobbycontrol wrote in a scathing blog post on Friday, adding “the EU should not fall for this misleading campaign.”
ITALIAN LOBBYISTS ASSEMBLE. Italian professionals in the public affairs sector are gathering under a new banner, we found out on LinkedIn this week, with the creation of an association, the Associazione Professionisti Relazioni Istituzionali Italiani (APRII). Participation is strictly personal (so not on behalf of companies), and APRII does not consider itself a lobbying organization, one of the persons involved told us.
FUEL-FRIENDLY COMMISSION. Transparency International and Fossil Free Politics both released reports (here and here) on the Commission’s ties with the fossil fuel industry. The conclusion of both reports is that the Commission met with representatives of the industry almost every working day during the previous mandate. According to their work, there were nearly 900 meetings between fossil fuel lobbyists and the 2019-2024 Commission. Shell was the favorite with 46 meetings.
LOBBYIST WATCHDOG TURNED MINISTER. His name was floated as a potential French prime minister but Didier Migaud, the head of HATVP, got the justice ministry gig instead. His meetings with counterparts in the government will surely be a lot of fun as many of his colleagues are involved in corruption trials or alleged conflicts of interest. 
A SÉJOURNÉ ALLY TAKES OVER SCIENCES PO. Luis Vassy, who was a member of incoming industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné’s team when he was a French minister, won the race to become the new head of elite-factory Sciences Po. My French colleagues have more here.
— Secretive Cyprus-registered funds were used to hide megayachts and luxury real estate linked to sanctioned Russian banker (OCCRP)
— European prosecutors join forces to systemically fight organised criminal groups in new network (Eurojust)
— La Fiscalía del Supremo investigará si Alvise Pérez financió ilegalmente su campaña a las elecciones europeas (El País)
CONSULTANCY
Cristina da Costa Ferreira has joined H/Advisors Cicero as a consultant in the Brussels team. She was previously a consultant on EU digital policy at Fourfold.
Juan José Fernández Romero joined Fourtold as a senior consultant, with a focus on EU healthcare and pharmaceutical policies. He previously served as government affairs lead at Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, and was policy officer at the European Patients’ Forum before that.
Andrew Archer has joined CAMARCO, the financial and corporate communications consultancy owned by APCO, as a senior director. He was previously senior partner at Investor Update.
Frida Göteskog will become managing director of EUK Consulting in Brussels on October 1.
EU INSTITUTIONS
Raluca Belegan joined the transition team of Commission Executive Vice President-designate Roxana Mînzatu, after having worked as an assistant to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s advisers. 
MOBILITY
The European Association of Automotive Suppliers has appointed Geoffroy Peeters as head of government affairs. He most recently served as director of institutional relations at Stellantis.  
NGOs
Javier Carbonell Castañer joined the European Policy Centre as a policy analyst to work on threats to democracy, the far-right, and citizens’ participation. 
Un grand merci à: Aoife White, Pieter Haeck, Šejla Ahmatović, my editor Paul Dallison and Nancy Sinatra.
**A message from European Digital Rights (EDRi): Amidst rising levels of corporate lobbying in Brussels, European Digital Rights (EDRi) represents the public interest in tech policy. For 20 years, we’ve challenged private and state actors who abuse their power to the detriment of people’s digital human rights. Today, our network counts over 50 organisations across Europe, with diverse expertise on technology, society and rights. We count on decision-makers to work with civil society. Delivering on sovereignty, security and democracy means centering the EU’s tech agenda on people’s rights, justice and planet boundaries. Together, we can build a safe and secure digital society beyond Big tech and authoritarianism. Join the discussion on our digital futures on 1 October at the Tech and Social Summit, in a forum co-hosted by 40+ civil society organisations in Europe working on digital, climate, and social justice.**
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