Soros invests charity bilions via a tax haven, EU business event now free, squeezing oranges from South Africa
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Welcome to the 6th newsletter of Follow the Money’s EU desk!?
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In this edition:
Investing charity billions: George Soros does it via a tax haven
Hedge fund manager George Soros is one of the world’s most generous philanthropists. Undisputedly, many NGOs work in Brussels' EU lobby to actually establish a more equal, transparent and green world. But we discovered that Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) invests donated billions via a hedge fund in the Cayman Islands, hiding the investment portfolio from both US tax authorities and public scrutiny. Following the findings of the 4th article in our series Tracking Europe's most Influential NGOs, the Dutch NGO SOMO is engaging with its financer, seeking clarity.?
Meanwhile, The Guardian published an article on dubious investments by do-gooders as well. The Quadrature Climate Foundation, also a funder of NGOs engaging in the Brussels legislative processes, didn't hide its investment portfolio very well. Thus revealing that charity money was invested in fossil fuels, a finding that didn’t go down well with one of its beneficiaries: the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
It seems that there are many more interesting stories to tell regarding the impact of philanthropists. Follow us and you won’t miss a thing.
Lise Witteman
EU-India business event now free, you’re welcome
This week, the Europe India Centre for Business Industry (EICBI) organises a conference in the European Parliament to promote trade between the EU and India. Initially, registering for the event was only possible by becoming an EICBI member, for some 650 euros a year.
After I asked questions about this to members of the European Parliament who were supposed to speak at the event, the organisation changed the registration button on its website.
What hasn’t changed, is that EICBI is still not a member of the EU lobby register, that’s supposed to debunk lobbying myths and increase trust in the EU through transparency. And contrary to what you might expect after the Qatargate scandal, that was not a problem.
领英推荐
As of next week, interest groups co-organising events in Parliament will be required to have a lobby register membership.
Peter Teffer
Squeezing oranges from South Africa
When you’re enjoying a glass of fresh orange juice this summer, the squeezed fruits are very likely imported from South Africa. That country is the number one exporter of oranges when the Spanish ones are out of season – roughly between March and November.?
Because of restrictions introduced by the EU last year, South African farmers warn they may not be able to deliver enough oranges for the European consumers market.?
It’s the outcome of a plant health (and trade) dispute that has been simmering for years. Spanish farmers fear that a small insect, the False African Moth, will hitch a ride on the oranges shipped from South Africa to Europe and will damage crops. On the other side of the argument are African farmers and German, Dutch and Belgian buyers, arguing that the little moth is not as big a threat as Spanish farmers would like us to believe.?
This article gives a unique insight into a little known trade dispute that has risen to the top of the agenda in meetings between the South African president and European leaders.?
Jesse Pinster
Commissioner Schinas, we’re heading to the Ombudsman?
About five months ago we uncovered European Commissioner Margaritis Schinas’ free stay at a luxury hotel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We exposed some questionable practices during his several trips to the UAE.?
At that time we filed a request for documents at the Commission, to know exactly what he received. We wanted to see behind the curtain, and check if there was anything else he received during his trips.?
To date, none of our requests were answered. It’s about time to add some pressure. We decided to file a complaint with the European Ombudsman, because the legal deadline for responding to our request is long overdue.?
Let’s see if this helps them speed things up…
Salsabil Fayed