The NGO Finance Watch started from a call launched by European elected officials worried about the future of democracy after realising that the force of financial lobbying in Brussels was not exposed to any counter-expertise from civil society.
Contrary to public health and the environment, there is no force of opposition in the area of finance. This is why elected officials are encouraging civil society to organise a response to this “asymmetry” that “constitutes in [their] eyes a danger to the quality of laws and to democracy.” They are calling for organisations to be formed that can give elected officials and the media a different perspective on financial activities.
Announced in June 2010, the initiative is gradually gaining ground: a hundred European politicians have already signed up and an association is on the horizon.
* Quote from Pascal Canfin
Picture credits: © Michael Nivelet – Fotolia.com
