For this week's crime & corruption newsletter I spoke to @wouterwolfs.bsky.social about the use of parliamentary immunity as a tactic to evade national scrutiny. Could it prove a viable strategy in the case of ECR MEP Daniel Obajtek, member of the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) party?

For @ftm.eu I interviewed the Jacques Delors Centre’s democracy expert @luisequaritsch.bsky.social on the issue of covert malign interference in the EU. Quaritsch warns that while the dangers are increasing (“it’s not just Russia or China anymore”), the EU remains “uniquely vulnerable” to threats.

Terwijl de aarde opwarmt, slaan fossiele brandstof- en mijnbouwbedrijven terug tegen klimaatbeleid. Via schimmige tribunalen eisen ze miljarden van overheden en claimen ze ‘misgelopen winst’ als schade – met 2025 als recordjaar. Uit angst voor dure rechtszaken worden plannen afgezwakt of uitgesteld.

On Monday @alistairkeepe.bsky.social asked why Commission President’s Signal messages were auto-deleted. Part of the answer: to save space. On Tuesday @alexfanta.bsky.social followed up: von der Leyen has a smartphone with lots of storage, so what gives? The question was skillfully sidestepped.

2025 is a record-breaking year for claims filed by fossil fuel and mining firms against democratic policies – marking a grim milestone in a surge of polluting industries seeking compensation for lost profits via a secretive tribunal. For @ftm.eu with contributions by ao @anilyilmaz.bsky.social

This morning, journalists from across Europe went public with a call to the European Commission to keep the promise of the EU treaties, and actually stick to the bloc's freedom of information law. See below Politico's Brussels Playbook: www.politico.eu/newsletter/b...

The EU #Transparency Register secretariat has confirmed that our complaint against MCC Brussels is admissible & that they have opened an investigation 👏 MCC Brussels, a far right 'think tank' spreading Orban regime propaganda, fails to disclose financial information, including its funding sources ⚠️

Finnish MEP Aura Salla dumped all her stocks in arms makers just one day after FTM revealed she owned them while at the same time calling for more EU defence spending. “I want to make sure there never will be a conflict of interest,” she said.

Today a majority of the European Parliament called for the “full and urgent” implementation of the EU Ethics Body, after the Huawei scandal added “special urgency to starting the work without delay". Rightwing groups, including EPP, are still trying to block more transparency. Article in comments.

Seems that the Patriots for Europe are acting on the ideas that they floated during an event in the European Parliament last week, organised together with Hungarian and Orbán-linked think tank MCC Brussels

MEP Aura Salla is a member of the ITRE committee (the lead parliament committee drafting the rules for the €1.5 billion European Defence Industry Programme) and the owner of stocks in defence companies. She even bought more during her MEP tenure. And yet she does not see a conflict of interest.

And Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Salvini denouncing the “declaration of war by Brussels” while the EU obviously had nothing to do with the decision

HuaweiGate update: Five people have been charged in the corruption probe into Huawei lobbyists. Four suspects remain in custody as police search for evidence that representatives of the Chinese tech giant broke the law when lobbying MEPs. #HuaweiGate

BREAKING: De Belgische politie viel vanochtend binnen bij woningen van Huawei-lobbyisten in een grootschalig corruptieonderzoek. Zij zouden Europarlementariërs hebben omgekocht om Huawei’s belangen te behartigen. In totaal werden 21 adressen doorzocht. #HuaweiGate

SCOOP: Brussels is facing a new corruption scandal. Belgian police raided 21 homes today as part of a corruption probe into Huawei’s EU lobbying. Lobbyists for the Chinese tech giant are suspected of bribing MEPs in exchange for their public support. #HuaweiGate www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...

Honderden Transavia-medewerkers krijgen een ww-uitkering terwijl ze gewoon een vast contract hebben. Nieuw verhaal over de luchtvaartindustrie 👇 www.ftm.nl/artikelen/bi...

Good moment to reread colleague @jesse-pinster.bsky.social’s investigative piece on the controversial Orban-linked think tank MCC and how they operate in Brussels

Ontbossing met chloorgif, fout katoen en dwangarbeid in fabrieken. Bij de productie van Decathlon-spullen gaat veel mis. En niet per ongeluk. Uit gelekte documenten blijkt hoezeer het bedrijf stuurt op kostenverlaging. ‘Ze vechten voor elke cent.’

Top Decathlon supplier profits from Uyghur forced labour in China labour scheme www.ftm.eu/articles/dec...

Read the latest chapter in the Russian shadowfleet saga today for free on our website

FTM's @simonvandorpe.bsky.social was looking for some answers after all the scandals that hit the European Investment Bank (EIB) www.ftm.eu/articles/sca... @ftm.eu He got none. newsroom.consilium.europa.eu/events/20250... Unfortunately, this seems to be the case every time with EU institutions.

Starting a new job at a company that borrows money from the bank you just left? At the European Investment Bank, that’s business as usual. Our analysis exposes the ever-spinning revolving door between the EIB and companies – and the conflicts of interest that come with it. www.ftm.eu/articles/the...

🔥 Over the past 5 months, I have been intensively scrutinizing the European Investment Bank, after news broke that former President Werner Hoyer was under investigation for corruption. Turns out it was just the tip of the iceberg. Read our story for free today on @ftm.eu www.ftm.eu/articles/sca...

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UPDATE in the Reynders case: he has to explain the origin of approximately one million euros to investigators, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF writes this morning. This and the five other things you need to know www.ftm.eu/articles/rey...

De vijf dingen die je moet weten over de witwaszaak rond oud-Eurocommissaris voor Justitie, Didier Reynders. www.ftm.nl/artikelen/di...

Who knew European Commissioners could be so fabulous? Great video by colleague @lisannevanvucht.bsky.social

🚨Update on the case against ex-EU justice chief Reynders. Follow the Money and Le Soir revealed on Tuesday that former EU justice chief Reynders is under investigation by the Belgian authorities for suspicions of money laundering. The five latest things you need to know. www.ftm.eu/articles/rey...

BREAK www.ftm.eu/articles/eur...

Beef between EU prosecutors and the Commission over IT, a Trump-loving billionaire backing a growing think tank-cum-consultancy in Brussels, and an ex-Commissioner landing a new job – but missing a tiny detail. Read all about it in our latest newsletter! mailing.ftm.nl/index.php?ac...

Onze rechtsstaat ligt onder vuur. In Den Haag, maar ook in Brussel. Daarom zoekt Follow the Money 2000 nieuwe leden. Als nieuw lid draag je direct bij, sluit jij je ook aan? www.ftm.nl/tegenkracht?…

Colleague @peterteffer.bsky.social was quick to spot this Ex-Commissioner starting a new job at an EPP-linked educational institute without informing the Commission while still in her “cooling off period”.

Yesterday Von der Leyen’s new Commission passed with the smallest majority (53.7 per cent) ever. Might that have something to do with her and her christian democrats breaking their elections promises? Read the story here: www.ftm.eu/articles/cor...

Het kabinet liet dit jaar voor 264 miljoen euro aan militaire exporten toe naar Egypte, Indonesië en Pakistan zonder dat aan de Kamer te laten weten. Tot en met oktober van dit jaar werd de Kamer dertien keer niet geïnformeerd, terwijl dit wel moet. www.ftm.nl/artikelen/tw...

On Mondays @followthemoney-eu.bsky.social publishes its weekly newsletter. In this edition, I went to Brussels Place Lux to check out how a vape lobbying group suspended from the EU Transparency Register is still doing some shady business. Read this and more: www.linkedin.com/pulse/shadow...

Not all is clean beneath a blue sky. We’re now here to dig deeper.