Big Pharma spends 40 million euros a year on its lobbying activities in the European Union. It is one of the main findings of a report produced by the Corporate Europe Observatory and Health Action International Europe, in which the statements of pharmaceutical companies and their representatives in the European lobby transparency register were examined.
The estimate clearly exceeds that of 3.4 million euros spent on lobbying by non-governmental organizations in the public health sector. The document therefore points out that "with the immense disparity between the resources of public interest groups and industrial lobbies, it becomes increasingly difficult to level the political playing field". Furthermore, it should be noted that many industries do not declare their lobbying activities: registration in the transparency register is in fact voluntary. But experts put forward an estimate of the 'submerged' resources reserved for this purpose: they could exceed 91 million euros annually, a figure more in line with that declared by the companies themselves in the United States. It is also estimated that around 220 lobbyists are active in the European pharmaceutical sector. Health Action International Europe project officer Katrina Perehudoff points out that the pharmaceutical industry "has a significant presence in Brussels and is clearly spending a significant amount of money on lobbying.
However, now we only have a partial picture of the total picture". For Olivier Hoedeman, of the Corporate Europe Observatory, "there is an urgent need to strengthen the European transparency register and to make registration compulsory".
Barbara Di Chiara – March 30, 2012 – PharmaKronos
