Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged influence of big corporations on EU-decision making, has issued a call for support in their legal struggle against the EU Commission. The organization sued the EU Commission in February 2011 for withholding information from the public on free trade negotiations with India, while sharing the information with business lobby groups, such as BusinessEurope.
In June 2013 the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg concluded that the European Commission did not violate EU’s transparency rules by withholding information from Corporate Europe Observatory. CEO is worried that this ruling can lead to increasing secrecy around EU trade negotiations and has now appealed to the European Court of Justice. In order to cover the legal costs, the organization has issued a call for support.