EU Parliament threatens wider ban on lobbyists as Amazon spat deepens

The European Parliament is considering revoking lobbying access for every interest group tied to Amazon, an internal note seen by POLITICO shows.

That would be a major escalation in a standoff over working conditions in Amazon warehouses that already led Parliament to withdraw the entry badges of the firm’s lobbyists early last year.

The internal document lays out options for the Parliament’s employment committee to respond to what lawmakers see as Amazon’s lack of accountability over its controversial labor practices — and repeated snubs.

The options, discussed in a meeting Tuesday, include “recommending … an extension of the current European Parliament lobbying ban to include third-party lobbying firms representing Amazon’s interests, not just Amazon employees,” the note read.

Such a step would considerably raise the stakes by threatening the access of lobbyists belonging to dozens of interest groups and organizations of which Amazon is a member or affiliated with in Brussels, including powerful tech lobby groups like DigitalEurope, CCIA Europe, ITI and others.

Two Parliament officials, granted anonymity to disclose details from the closed-door meeting, said no formal decision had been taken yet.

The internal document lays out options for the Parliament’s employment committee to respond to what lawmakers see as Amazon’s lack of accountability over its controversial labor practices — and repeated snubs. | Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Despite the current restrictions, the Big Tech firm has still been able to meet with members of the European Parliament at those members’ invitation. The NGO Transparency International counted at least 64 meetings since the start of the new term last year.

Lawmakers in the committee also weighed whether to “call on the European Commission to review public contracts awarded to Amazon,” though it acknowledged that “most, if not all, such contracts relate to web services and therefore fall outside the direct remit of the [employment] committee.”

A further option floated at the meeting was organizing another public hearing with Amazon at the committee.

In June, Parliament uninvited senior representatives from Amazon from a hearing about its warehouse working conditions after lawmakers felt the proposed speakers were too low-ranking to credibly answer for the company’s alleged misconduct.

The hearing was meant to pave the way for a truce after the institution suffered a string of similar no-shows and was a chance for Amazon to win back its lobbying badges, according to internal communications seen by POLITICO.

Amazon had offered to send Stefano Perego and Lucy Cronin, vice presidents for operations and EU public policy respectively, but lawmakers weren’t impressed.

“We have welcomed representatives from Amazon to the hearing — provided that they represent a sufficiently high management level,” Li Andersson, the committee’s left-wing chair, told POLITICO at the time, ahead of the meeting.

The accountability for Amazon’s reported controversial labor practices “lie[s] at the highest levels of Amazon’s management structure,” Andersson argued, citing resistance to unions and invasive surveillance practices.

Amazon tried to avoid another public clash in the run-up to June’s meeting when it turned to Parliament President Roberta Metsola for help. They offered Metsola a meeting in Washington with one of Amazon’s coveted top executives, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO.

In a statement to POLITICO, Sarah Tapp, a spokesperson for Amazon, said: “We hope the European Parliament will allow room for moderate voices and fact-based discussions, focused on the logistics industry more broadly and reflecting Amazon’s contributions to European economy and society.”

She added that “Amazon continues to have access to the European Parliament, so repeated media coverage alleging otherwise is factually incorrect.”

This article has been updated.