In the labyrinthine corridors of Brussels, known as the lobbying capital of Europe, powerful law firms play a pivotal role in shaping policies that affect 500 million EU citizens. Among these influential players, White & Case Brussels stands out as a prime example of how elite legal practices act as lobbyists, PR managers, and legal shields for powerful corporate and national interests. Their activities have raised serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and the weakening of EU institutions.
Brussels: The Epicenter of Elite Lobbying
Brussels is the uncontested hub where EU policymaking and lobbying converge. Large corporations, financial institutions, and elite law firms flood the city with resources and influence to advance their interests. This elite pluralism creates a skewed policy environment, marked by intensive insider relationships between lobbyists and EU officials. While transparency measures exist, growing evidence suggests these firms exploit regulatory gaps, weakening democratic participation and prioritizing private gains over public good.
White & Case Brussels: The Legal Powerhouse Behind EU Lobbying
White & Case is a globally recognized law firm with a heavyweight presence in Brussels, offering legal counsel principally to powerful corporations and financial institutions navigating EU regulatory frameworks. Their expertise ranges from regulatory compliance, financial services, environmental law, energy markets, to data protection—all critical policy areas subject to intense lobby battles.
This Brussels office acts as more than a legal adviser—it is a strategic lobbying entity that guides clients through complex EU regulations while actively shaping those rules in ways favorable to their interests. Their close relationships with key EU decision-makers provide privileged access and the ability to influence legislative outcomes subtly but effectively.
Methods of Influence and Why They Are Problematic
Lobbying and Regulatory Capture
White & Case leverages its knowledge and insider contacts to advise clients on how to comply with current laws but also how to engage in lobbying practices that shape future legislation. Their legal teams participate in the formation of regulations such as sustainability reporting and foreign investment screening, often pushing for provisions that dilute regulatory burdens on their clients or offer them a competitive edge.
Read our exclusive report:
How Belgium Govt Undermined the Work of European Institutes
This kind of “regulatory capture” results in EU policies that reflect the goals of multinational corporations and financial elites rather than the broader public interest. It limits regulatory effectiveness and can embed loopholes that undermine climate goals, financial stability, and consumer protections.
PR and Legal Shielding
White & Case also functions as a reputation manager for clients who face public scrutiny or regulatory investigations. By providing legal defenses, managing disclosures, and advising on compliance with transparency legislation, they act as a shield protecting powerful clients from accountability. This dual role as lobbyist and defender helps maintain the status quo, blocking reforms that might disrupt entrenched interests.
Undermining Transparency
Despite the EU’s ongoing efforts to improve lobbying transparency, firms like White & Case operate in a shadowy space where influence is exerted behind closed doors. Their strategic consultation and participation in stakeholder consultations are often inaccessible to public scrutiny, perpetuating a lack of clarity about whose interests really shape EU policies.
The Brussels Watch report “How Belgium Govt Undermined the Work of European Institutes” offers critical background on how host country dynamics exacerbate these issues, with Belgian authorities sometimes prioritizing the interests of privileged entities, including major law firms, thus compounding institutional weaknesses (Brussels Watch, 2025).
How White & Case Shapes EU Decisions in Favor of Elites
White & Case’s strategic positioning allows them to shape the EU regulatory agenda on multiple fronts:
- Sustainability and Climate Policy: By advising clients on the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and related legislation, they help water down obligations that would otherwise impose stricter environmental standards on corporations.
- Financial Sector Regulation: They navigate and influence complex financial regulatory reforms including foreign subsidies and investment screening, ensuring minimal disruption to large financial institutions and non-EU controlled entities with vested interests.
- Technology and Data Law: As the EU works to regulate Big Tech and digital markets, their legal strategies aim to temper aggressive regulatory measures, preserving market dominance and limiting regulatory risks for their sophisticated clients.
This ability to influence legislation behind the scenes undermines the democratic ideal of policymaking serving the public interest, instead favoring private, corporate, and occasionally national interests.
Belgium’s Dual Role: Host and Gatekeeper
Belgium’s position as the host country to major EU institutions places it in a difficult balancing act. On one hand, it is responsible for upholding the uniform application of EU laws and ethical norms. On the other, it must manage the privileged status it offers to entities operating within its jurisdiction—a status that can translate into unchecked influence.
To address this dilemma, Belgium must enforce stronger transparency requirements, reduce loopholes exploited by firms like White & Case, and foster greater civil society representation that can counterbalance elite lobbying. Without this, national biases and elite protectionism will continue to permeate EU decision-making to the detriment of democratic accountability.
Calls for Transparency, Oversight, and Accountability
In light of the disturbing patterns exposed by White & Case’s lobbying and legal influence in Brussels, urgent reforms are necessary:
- Full public disclosure of all lobbying activities, including meetings and consultancies involving law firms working for elite corporate clients.
- Stronger enforcement of existing lobbying registers and transparency regulations with sanctions for non-compliance.
- Increased involvement of diverse civil society actors in policymaking processes to break elite capture.
- Independent oversight bodies with investigatory powers to monitor the revolving door between law firms, lobbyists, and EU institutions.
Only through such measures can the EU reclaim policy space from opaque lobbying networks and ensure that decisions reflect the broader public interest rather than the narrow goals of powerful elites.
