Lobbying, German-Style

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"In recent weeks, senior politicians from Germany's two biggest parties resigned following disclosures that they received tens of thousands of euros from corporate benefactors," even though "the payments were legal." Throughout Europe, companies are increasingly doing "aggressive lobbying in the absence of rules to rein them in." Public outrage has led watchdogs like the Corporate Europe Observatory to push for disclosure laws, though "many companies responded ... by further obscuring their lobbying efforts." Economic and political changes have made Berlin, in particular, a hotspot for corporate lobbying. "We're extremely well networked here," said Coca-Cola's head of public affairs in Berlin.