14 December 2005, Brussels, Belgium
Presentation of the 'Worst EU lobbying Award'
Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl, Spinwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe will present a new award for the most offensive case of corporate lobbying in EU capital Brussels. In the press release the Observatory writes: "Backed by almost a billion euros per year, over 10,000 corporate lobbyists roam the corridors of power in Brussels. Ever more inventive and often problematic ways of gaining influence are gaining ground. Pretending to be concerned environmentalists, buying science, funding anarcho-capitalist think-tanks, and securing first class treatment and access by EU bodies, powerful lobby groups manage to get their interests satisfied."

So far, the 'Campaign for Creativity' is heading the list, nominated as a fake NGO brilliantly disguising corporate demands as grassroots concerns when in fact set up to lobby MEPs to vote for US-style software patents.
http://www.corporateeurope.org/worstlobby/

27-31 December 2005, Berlin, Germany, 22nd CCC congress
http://www.ccc.de/

28 January 2006, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Presentation of the Big Brother Awards 2005
http://www.bigbrotherawards.nl