Another Round of the Best of the Worst

Nominations are now open for the Worst Lobbying Awards for 2008 in Europe. Sponsored by Friends of the Earth, Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl and Spinwatch, the contest invites people to make nominations in two categories: a "Worst EU Lobbying" award for "the most deceptive, misleading, or otherwise problematic lobbying tactics," and a "Worst Conflict of Interest" award for the European official "whose background, side-jobs or other liaisons with special interests raise the most serious concerns about their ability to act in public interest." Last year's Worst EU Lobbying award went to German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche for "their misleading and scaremongering lobby campaign to water down EU curbs on CO2 emissions from passenger cars."