Kangaroo Group
Background
Set up in 1979, the Kangaroo Group promotes free trade across the European Union and brings together an impressive roster of politicians, academics and business people.[1]
In 1989 its then director Pamela Entwistle, in a letter to British American Tobacco asking for support described its operations as:
- ...works both in the limelight and also behind the scenes; the limelight by publishing a bi-monthly newspaper Kangaroo News, and behind the scenes discussing Internal Market affairs with Government officials and National ministers, with the European Commission and in the Parliament. It has the one aim to function as a multi-party, multi-national platform to mobilise public and specialist opinion behind the completion of the Internal Market.[2]
Corporate membership at that time cost £3,000 a year.[3]
It continues to promote business interests to MEPs and EU civil servants through a mixture of corporate gatherings and information campaigns.[4]
Criticisms
Dr Monica Horten, a journalist and expert on European internet and copyright policy, has described the Kangaroo Group as a "one of a number of groups which provide extra-curricula contact between corporate industry lobbyists and MEPs".[5]
A letter sent in 2011 from the Corporate Europe Observatory questioned the Kangaroo Group's use of EU Parliament facilities on behalf of corporate benefactors.[6]
Tobacco Links
Its tobacco industry members are listed as Barry Ronan from BAT, Mario Muller from the Confederation of European Community Cigarette Manufacturers, Istvan Komoroczki from Imperial Tobacco, Kristof Doms from Philip Morris and Paolo Bochicchio from JT International.[7]
One area the Kangaroo Group looks at is smuggling, contraband and general threats to corporate property rights. As part of this it hosted a forum in 2011 on how to tackle tobacco smuggling.[8] The forum promoted a booklet The Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and How to Tackle it[9] published by the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC).[10][9]
It was written by Elizabeth Allen who spent 35 years with HM Revenue and Customs, mainly on tobacco issues.[9]
People
The Board Of The Kangaroo Group
Elected on 19 June 2013 Michael Gahler MEP/EPP, President | Karl von Wogau, Secretary General | Ioan Mircea Pascu MEP/S&D, Vice-Chairman | Olivier Jehin, Communications Officer | Jean Naslin, Treasurer | Josepha von Metternich, Director
The Members Of The Kangaroo Group 2015
Honorary Members
Valery Giscard D'estaing | Bertel Haarder | Mario Monti | Ana Palacio | Alain Pompidou
Members Of The European Parliament
- Burkhard Balz MEP/Epp, Member Of The Committee On Economic And Monetary Affairs, Germany
- Anna Maria Corazza Bildt MEP/Epp, Member Of The Committee On The Internal Market And Consumer Protection, Sweden
- Richard Corbett MEP/S&D, Member Of The Committee On Constitutional Affairs, United Kingdom
- Herbert Dorfmann MEP/Epp, Member Of The Committee On Agriculture And Rural Development, Italy
- Frank Engel MEP/Epp, Member Of The Committee On Civil Liberties, Justice And Home Affairs, Luxemburg
- Doru-Claudian Frunzulica MEP/S&D]], Member Of The Committee On Development, Rumania
- Michael Gahler MEP/Epp, Member Of The Committee On Foreign Affairs, Member Of The Subcommittee On Security And Defence, Germany
- Ana Gomes MEP/S&D, Member Of The Sub-Committee On Security And Defence And The Committee On Civil Liberties, Portugal
- Barbara Kappel MEP/Ni, Member Of The Committee On Industry, Research And Energy, Austria
- Othmar Karas MEP/Epp, Member Of The Committee On Economic And Monetary Affairs, Austria
- Alain Lamassoure MEP/EPP, Member Of The Committee On Economic And Monetary Affairs, France
- Werner Langen MEP/EPP, Member Of The Committee On Economic And Monetary Affairs, Germany
- Ioan Mircea Pascu, MEP/S&D, Vice-Chair Of The Committee On Foreign Affairs, Rumania
- Paul Rübig MEP/Epp, Member Of The Committee On Industry, Research And Energy, Member Of The Committee On Budgetary Control, Austria
- Andreas Schwab MEP/Epp, Member Of The Committee On The Internal Market And Consumer Protection, Germany
- Rainer Wieland MEP/Epp, Vice-President Of The European Parliament]], Member Of The Committee On Development And The Committee On Constitutional Affairs, Germany
- Cecilia Wikström MEP/Alde, Chairwoman Of The Committee On Petitions]], Member Of The Committee On Civil Liberties]], Justice And Home Affairs, Sweden
Members From Other Institutions, Academia And Experts
- Marco Becht, Professor Of Finance, Solvay Brussels School Of Economics, Université Libre De Bruxelles
- Markus J. Beyrer, Director General, BusinessEurope
- Graham Bishop, Adviser European Financial Affairs, Grahambishop.Com, Former Rapporteur To The Eu's Interinstitutional Monitoring Group
- Rainer Boden, Adviser, Financial Services
- Walter Brinkmann, Adviser, Consumer Goods
- Günter Burghardt, Ambassador Ret. Senior Counsel, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
- David Doyle, Director, The Genesis Initiative
- Colette Flesch, Chambre Des Députés, Vice Présidente, Grand Duché Du Luxembourg
- Otmar Franz, Vorsitzender Des Vorstands, RKW
- Carles-Alfred Gasóliba I Böhm, President - Member Of The High Level Reflexion Group, Axis
- Robert Goebbels, Former Member Of The European Parliament Luxemburg
- Malcolm Harbour, Former Member Of The European Parliament United Kingdom
- Edit Herczog, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Hungary
- Karsten Hoppenstedt, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Germany
- Olivier Jehin, Rédacteur En Chef, Europe Diplomatie & Défense
- Jean-Claude Lahaut (Expert)
- Brigitte Langenhagen, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Germany
- Francois Gilles Le Theule, Paris
- Nigel Lightfoot, Expert In CBRN Terrorism Preparedness
- Astrid Lulling, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Luxemburg
- Erika Mann, Executive Vice President]], Computer & Communications Industry Association
- Michel Ph. Mattoug, Leiter Steinbeis-Transferzentrum Internationale Strategien
- Manuel Medina Ortega, Abogado Asesoramiento Jurídico Medina Y Asociados Slp
- Bill Newton Dunn, Former Member Of The European Parliament United Kingdom
- Ria Oomen-Ruijten, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Netherlands
- David O’Sullivan, Head Of Delegation, Eu Representation To The United States
- Justas Vincas Paleckis, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Lithuania
- Ben Patterson, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Uk
- Alexander Radwan, Member Of The German Bundestag
- Christa Randzio-Plath, Prof Dr H.C. University Of Hamburg, Former President Of The Ep's Committee On Economic And Monetary Affairs
- Marieke Sanders-Ten Holte, Former Member Of The European Parliament
- Alexander Schaub, Former Director-General, DG Internal Market, Eu Commission
- Peter Schmidhuber, Former Member Of The European Commission, Rechtsanwalt, Gassner Stockmann & Kollegen
- Olle Schmidt, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Sweden
- Margarita Starkeviciute, Former Member Of The European Parliament, Lithuania
- Viktor Vanberg, Member Of The Board, Walter Eucken Institut, Freiburg
- Karl Von Wogau, Secretary General, The Kangaroo Group
- Gunnar Wiegand, Deputy Director, Representation Of The Free State Of Bavaria At The European Union
- Georgios Zavvos, Member Of The Legal Service, Team Business Law, Fin.Services, European Commission
Members From Industry, Services And Trade
- Richard Bergström (EFPIA)
- Frederique Biston (Volvo Europe Finance)
- Lothar Blatt-Von Raczeck (German Savings Banks Association)
- Paolo Bochicchio (JT International)
- Jürgen Boltz (Genworth Financial)
- Antoine Bouvier (MBDA)
- Arnaud Chatin (Michelin)
- Noel Clehane (BDO)
- Thomas Compernolle (British American Tobacco)
- Andrea D’avack (Chanel)
- Chris De Noose (European Savings Banks Group)
- Marie De Saint Cheron (Safran Group)
- Kristof Doms (Philip Morris International)
- Nathalie Errard (Airbus)
- Christian Flach (Marquard & Bahls)
- Douglas Gregory (Amgen)
- Andrew Hall (NBCUniversal)
- Emmanuel Haton (Bp Europe)
- Gerhard Hofmann (Bvr - Bundesverband Der Deutschen Volksbanken Und Raiffeisenbanken)
- Hans-Dieter Holtzmann (Deutsche Bank)
- Joerg Jenewein, (Novartis)
- Erik Jonnaert (Acea – European Automobile Manufacturers Association - With 11 Members)
- Emmanuel Jacob (Euromil)
- Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff (Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl)
- Alexander Kirschall (Deutsche Post Dhl)
- Michael Langer (Diehl Va Systeme)
- Christine Leurquin (Ses)
- Holger Lochmann (Andreas Stihl Ag & Co Kg)
- Gerhard Manz (Friedrich Graf Von Westphalen & Partner)
- Giacomo Martinotti (Avio)
- Christopher Mclaughlin (Inmarsat)
- Mario Müller (Confederation Of European Community Cigarette Manufacturers - Ceccm)
- Jean Naslin (Groupe Bpce)
- Lukas Pfister (Merck Sharp & Dohme)
- Jean-Francois Pons (French Banking Federation)
- Christiaan Prins (Unilever)
- Thomas Reynaert (United Technologies Corporation - Utc)
- Nina Schindler (Commerzbank)
- Chris Scott-Wilson (CEFIC)
- Pierre Charles Sivac (International Fragrance Association - IFRA)
- Nathalie Stieger Roche)
- Roland Tassler (Austrian Savings Banks Association)
- Alessandro Tschirkov (Imperial Tobacco)
- Henrik Vassallo (Saab)
- Christian Verschueren (Eurocommerce)
Notes
- ↑ Kangaroo Group, Goals, Kangaroo Group website, Accessed December 2011
- ↑ BAT, Letter from Pamela Entwistle to PM Bingham, 27 October 1989
- ↑ BAT, Corporate Membership Scheme of the Kangaroo Group, 27 October 1989
- ↑ Kangaroo Group, Events, Kangaroo Group website, Accessed December 2011
- ↑ iptegrity.com, EU Parliament’s Kangaroo Group hops onto ACTA, iptegrity.com, 10 October 2011
- ↑ Corporate Europe, Letter from Olivier Hoedeman to College of Quaestors, 21 September 2011
- ↑ Kangaroo Group, Members, Kangaroo Group website, Accessed December 2011
- ↑ Kangaroo Group, The Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and How to Tackle it, 26 May 2011
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 ITIC, The Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and How to Tackle it, 19 April 2011
- ↑ The ITIC describes itself as:
- a non-profit research and education foundation. ITIC serves as a clearing house for information on best practices in taxation and investment policy, and as a training center to transfer such know how to improve the investment climates of transition and developing countries, thereby spurring formation and development of business and economic prosperity.