EU

Today, Oxfam publishes “Takers Not Makers” as business elites gather in the Swiss resort town of Davos and, billionaire Donald Trump backed by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is inaugurated as President of the United States. The report shows that globally, billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024 alone, at a rate three times faster than the previous year.

On 8 November 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced she would introduce a proposal to amend three key pillars of the European Green Deal through an Omnibus law: the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the Taxonomy Regulation. 

As members of civil society, human rights and environmental defenders, trade unions and climate activists, we call on the European Commission to actively protect these EU corporate accountability laws, reafirm the oficial timeline for their transposition and implementation, and be fully transparent about the Omnibus process.

This month, development and humanitarian NGOs faced a significant challenge when the Dutch government announced substantial funding cuts of 70%. These cuts are not an isolated incident: earlier this year, Germany announced further cuts in official development aid (ODA), with Belgium and France seeming to follow suit with announced cuts ranging from 15 to 40%. 

Reacting to donor pledges made at the Brussels conference on Syria today, Oxfam in Syria Country Director, Moutaz Adham, said: "While we welcome the pledges made today, the discussion remains far removed from the harsh realities Syrians face."

EU governments are losing out on a staggering 286.5 billion euros in revenue annually, equivalent to 33 million euros per hour, due to their failure to fairly tax Europe’s wealthiest. This amount, equivalent to Finland’s GDP, represents what a European wealth tax of up to 5 percent could raise every year, according to Oxfam’s analysis. 

The global food system is broken. We need fair and sustainable food systems. The EU can support by strengthening food production at a local level in poorer countries and promoting the rights of farmers, especially women farmers, who are key in the fight against hunger and poverty.

The EU must relaunch its relationship with Latin America. The relationship must focus on ending inequality in the world’s most unequal region.

The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the toys we buy should be free from human suffering and environmental destruction. Oxfam advocates for EU rules to make companies accountable for the damage they cause to people and the planet.   

Oxfam advocates for the EU to be a global champion for civic space. Civic space enables citizens to speak out against power, peacefully protest, express their needs, interests, and concerns, and propose and negotiate solutions. 

Today, EU negotiators have reached a long-awaited political agreement on the EU migration pact. In response, Stephanie Pope, Oxfam EU migration expert, said: “As we hear EU statements celebrating this deal, the question is, at what cost?"