Financial Justice Ireland

Lobbying Organisation Financial Justice Ireland

Date published 08 Jan, 2020

Relevant Matter Legislation

Public Policy Area Finance

Period 1 Sep, 2019 to 31 Dec, 2019

Specific Details Changing policies at European level to tackle financial injustice: specifically calling on MEPS to publicly support a comprehensive and effective reform of national and European economic institutions in order to confront financialisation as a key driver of inequalities and promote active de-financialisation. Three main pillars for action were proposed: 1) EU economic and fiscal policies, 2) development finance and EU policies towards the global South, and 3) thematic policies.

Intended results Address corporate tax evasion and the massive issue of tax havens especially Roll back the power of the financial lobby, as pledged by over 500 MEP candidates during the EU elections earlier in 2019, Promote shared understanding and ongoing questioning of the dynamics of financialization: It is essential to raise people’s awareness around the very real impacts of financialization on their lives and to question current dynamics. The European Parliament would gain from better integrating these issues in its future work, including by challenging the inequalities problem and how financial actors like hedge funds, private equity and others are involved in essential public services Reaffirm economic sovereignty and rights-based international cooperation to better regulate the financial sector so that it helps not hinders critical financing to the achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Resist ongoing attempts to shift decision-making on financial matters away from legitimate and democratic policy spaces, often in the name of ‘financing opportunities’: Democratise global economic governance: advocating for the reform of global institutions and the establishment of new ones which are able to regulate the new and fast evolving financial actors, and can bring finance back into democratic accountability and control. This calls not only for building convergence on existing proposals regarding critical new pillars of a democratised economic governance ecosystem, such as an intergovernmental tax body and sovereign debt workout institution.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Maeve Bateman

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Meeting (1)

We held a breakfast briefing in the European Parliament on 14th November 2019 with partners from our EC-funded Citizens for Financial Justice project targeting MEPs which had representatives from the 40 NGOs across Europe working on the project. All MEPs were invited to the breakfast briefing, where we shared a briefing paper and a published report, the Spotlight report, produced as part of the 'Citizens for Financial Justice' project. At the Breakfast meeting we spoke to the Irish MEPs who came about the report, we listened to one of the report authors give a presentation, and we were joined by Irish organisations Friends of the Earth Ireland, 80:20, and Galway One World Society who are also part of the CFJ project.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Grace O'Sullivan MEP (European Parliament)

Billy Kelleher MEP (European Parliament)