Follow the Money EU

Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members. Not a member yet? Sign up now Dear readers, The year has passed quickly, and the Crime and Corruption newsletter is heading into a summer hiatus. We are deeply proud of our expanding audience week after week, and we are already eager to return to our coverage of a subject that, sadly, only gains significance.

For many observers across Europe, Spain has become a rare success story – offering hope that progressive politics can still succeed, govern, and project confidence on the world stage. But the reality behind its image as the continent’s left-wing darling is more complicated, says Spanish political scientist and activist Elsa Arnaiz. Listen to this podcast Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members. Not a member yet? Sign up now

Dear readers, We are back with a new issue of the Secrecy Tracker – your regular update on what the EU institutions prefer to keep under wraps. I am Nikolaj Nielsen, a reporter at EUobserver, who has for years struggled to gain access to EU documents. I wrote this newsletter in collaboration with EUobserver’s Elena Sánchez Nicolás, Alexander Fanta from Follow the Money, and Pascal Hansens from Investigate Europe. Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members.

What’s the news? Former EU lawmaker Paul Rübig, an Austrian entrepreneur with major clients in the oil and chemical industries, has spent 30 years building a powerful network within the Brussels bureaucracy. The Austrian seems to be pursuing a specific agenda: championing the interests of companies like his own, accelerating free trade, pushing for deregulation, and vilifying troublesome NGOs. Operating largely out of public scrutiny, he is part of a network of interest groups rooted in Bavaria.

Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members. Not a member yet? Sign up now Welcome back to Bureau Brussels – your weekly deep dive into the power plays, backroom deals, and investigations shaping life for millions of people across the bloc. What’s in store this week?

What’s the news? SpaceX wants to launch a million data centres into space. With its recent blockbuster IPO, Elon Musk’s company has moved a step closer to realising this ambition. Other space giants – such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin – are also planning vast constellations of data centres and communications satellites. In total, 1.5 million satellites could be launched over the next 15 years, Follow the Money calculated. Why does this matter? Scientists are increasingly worried.

Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members. Not a member yet? Sign up now Dear readers, This week, we looked into the potential environmental cost of the race between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to dominate space. We also probed the European Commission’s claim that IT issues caused repeated delays to its flagship deforestation law, or whether lobbying and political pressure also played a role.

Far-right groups in Europe are using PayPal to sell merchandise and raise money, despite a ban on transactions that promote hate or discrimination. This highlights a broader failure by Big Tech, which is not just turning a blind eye but allowing extremist content to remain on its platforms. Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members. Not a member yet? Sign up now • An alert for every new investigation we publish.

What’s the news? In late 2025, the European Commission once again postponed the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The official reason was significant problems with the IT system underpinning the legislation. Documents seen by FTM show that the Commission had been aware of these IT issues for years – yet took no action to resolve them. Businesses and EU lawmakers are questioning whether this alone justified yet another delay to the legislation.

Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members. Not a member yet? Sign up now Welcome back to Bureau Brussels – your weekly deep dive into the power plays, backroom deals, and investigations shaping life for millions of people across the bloc. What’s in store this week? Israel’s EU research funding cut by half Why is the “simplified” supply chain law still so complex?