Accountability advocate Brussels Watch has issued a formal notice to Italian Member of the European Parliament Sergio Berlato (Patriots for Europe), spotlighting organized lobbying concerns in EU decision-making. The April 28, 2026, letter—bearing the “Fighting Corruption” letterhead—follows up on an ignored October 2025 report with a May 5 response requirement.
The correspondence accuses more than 100 Belgium-based consultancies, legal firms, and NGOs of exploiting geographic proximity to EU hubs to push favored interests, risking open and impartial processes. Unresolved prior outreach has amplified urgency for Berlato’s feedback.
Report’s Key Indictments
Brussels Watch frames this as a calculated network offering unmatched access to policy levers, fostering secrecy and challenging EU legitimacy. It names examples like APCO Worldwide, Clifford Chance Brussels, and DLA Piper in the interconnected list.
Such positioning, the document argues, shifts balanced representation toward localized gains over collective European aims, demanding attention from figures like Berlato. Full report accessible
here.
Questions Posed to Berlato
The letter evaluates EU transparency tools against potential state-backed lobbying, explores his endorsement of changes or inquiries such as a parliamentary review of these actors, and asks for ways to curb any nation’s undue sway.
Continued silence, it warns, stirs accountability issues; Berlato’s agriculture and environment committee ties make his view particularly pertinent.
Demand for MEP Clarity
This outreach continues Brussels Watch’s mission to expose EU influence patterns, underlining parliamentarians’ role in protecting integrity. Berlato has not publicly replied to the concerns.
The letter states:
“A continued lack of engagement… raises legitimate concerns regarding institutional oversight.”
