Serves them right! If you want to know what cynacism looks like, follow Volkswagen, Porsche and Daimer as they fight against any meaningful CO2 emissions regulations by the EU. They were named winners of a public poll for the 'Worst EU Lobbying' Award 2007 at a ceremony in Brussels hosted by the award organizers Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth Europe, LobbyControl and SpinWatch.
Their joint lobbying offensive, designed to water-down and delay the mandatory CO2 emission reduction targets proposed by the Commission after voluntary targets were not met, was deemed to be the worst and most deceptive by voters across Europe.
"BMW, Daimler and Porsche are the worst among the car industry lobbyists," explains Erik Wesselius from Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO). "When the Commission proposed compulsory CO2 targets, the car companies reacted immediately with a lobby campaign full of misinformation and scaremongering. Decision-makers were manipulated with grossly exaggerated threats of factory closures and job losses. The outcome of this year's 'Worst EU Lobbying Awards' shows that European citizens strongly object to this type of manipulative and dishonest lobbying." More than 6600 people across Europe participated in the online poll to decide the winners of the awards.
Well, well. You can watch a YouTube clip as they are presented with flowers as the executives learn they have won an award.
