Corporate lobbying with strong interest networks and financial inputs ‡ lobbying or trading with democracy and the rule of law? In 2010, the public was alerted to controversial economic, political and other circumstances surrounding biogas energy production from renewable sources. In 2011, an open letter by a group of intellectuals96 drew attention to the unorthodox and suspicious avoidance of environmental impact assessments and the effects of some changes in legislation. The group called for an immediate public discussion on the production of biogas,97 as it was mostly financed by the state. Attention was drawn to the pressures and controversial lobbying by the biogas lobby, Keter Group. The group of intellectuals informed the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, as this type of lobbying was systemic. The Keter Group ordered paid advertisements in the biggest daily newspapers, often without explicitly stating the content was a paid advertisement (by law all advertisements need to be labelled as such to distinguish them from news content) or by making it seem it was written by an independent journalist and authorised by the newspapers’ editors. Boris Vezjak with co-signatories issued a complaint against a journalist to
96 Vezjak B. Flajšman B, Plut D. Kajfež Bogataj L. Hanžek M. OmladiË L., (2011) Bioplinarne so v Sloveniji za zdaj zlorabljen energetski project [Biogas plants in Slovenia are currently seen as an abused energy project] Available from: www.dnevnik.si/mnenja/ pisma-bralcev/1042431999 [19. 06. 2014] 97 Ibid; See also: Pihlar, T. (2010) Bioplinske naprave - energetska priložnost ali velika grožnja okolju in pridelavi hrane [Biogas plants - energy opportunity or a great threat to the environment and food production]. Available from: www.dnevnik.si/slovenija/1042400032; Pihlar, T. (2011) Absurdno je bioplin proizvajati iz koruze [It is absurd to produce biogas from corn]. Available from: www.dnevnik.si/slovenija/1042441491; [30. 06. 2014]; Pihlar, T. (2011) Bioplinarji: Panika zaradi bioplina prihaja le s kmetijskega ministrstva [Bio gas producers: Stampede on biogas comes only with the Ministry of Agriculture]. Available from: www.dnevnik.si/slovenija/1042428499. [30.06.2014]; OKOLJSKI CENTER »Alpe Adria Green int. org.« (2013), Zaradi vabljivih subvencij so se v Sloveniji razbohotile megalomanske bioplinarne [Due to the subsidies the megalomaniac biogas plants flourish in Slovenia]. Available from: http://alpeadriagreen. wordpress.com/2013/11/17/zaradi-vabljivih-subvencij-so-se-v-sloveniji-razbohotilemegalomanske-bioplinarne/[30.06.2014].; OKOLJSKI CENTER »Alpe Adria Green int. org.« (2014) Razlitje gnojnice v Radmožancih [Slurry spill in Radmožanci]. Available from: http://alpeadriagreen.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/razlitje-gnojnice-v-bioplinarniradmozanci/ [30. 06. 2014]
the Journalists’ Ethics Committee of the Slovenian Journalist Association to evaluate the professional and ethical dimensions of such conduct by media representatives. The Journalists Ethics Committee issued an opinion that the journalist violated the Journalists Code of Ethics by falsely presenting the advert paid for by the Kester Group as an article.98 Other journalists who reported on the issues rising on producing biogas and followed professional standards, had received inappropriate messages and threats to change their reporting. A legacy of the Kater Group remains in the tens of millions of euro in outstanding loans that were transferred from the state owned banks to the bad bank, therefore a debt that will be covered by the state budget. Some of the farmers and businesses that used the Group’s project design and biogas plant construction services also went bankrupt due to outstanding loans. This case study represents a form of indirect lobbying where the lobbyists abused the media to influence decision-makers and public opinion. The consequence of this particular lobbying strategy was financial support by the state to not previously assessed projects that not only had a dubious environmental impact, but now also represent a huge burden to public finances.
98 Journalists’ Ethics Commission (2011) Boris Vezjak s sopodpisniki proti Vlasti Tifengraber [Boris Vezjak with a co-signatory against Vlasta Tifengraber]. Dnevnik. Available from: http://www.razsodisce.org/razsodisce/arhivb4e8.html?nid=283 [19. 06. 2014]
LIFTING THE LID ON LOBBYING CALL FOR TRANSPARENT AND ETHICAL LOBBYNG
19