Investigate Europe: Recent Episodes
Investigate Europe
Rare earths are to the 21st century what coal was to the 19th and oil to the 20th. Our everyday electronics - and Europe's climate goals - depend on them. But China controls almost all supply chains. Can Europe free itself from this dependence? Reporters Eurydice Bersi and Attila Kálmán discuss the findings of our latest investigation, in conversation with Maxence Peigné.
Europeans produce an average of 35kg of plastic packaging waste each per year and global plastic use is expected to triple by 2060. In reality, most of the packaging and shopping bags amassed in daily life are never recycled and instead end up in landfills or incinerators. This podcast from our Wasteland investigation sorts fact from fiction and unpacks the true extent of Europe's mounting plastic waste crisis.
The post Wasteland – Plastica: un disastro europeo appeared first on Investigate Europe.
In questo episodio diamo un’occhiata ai risultati della nostra ultima inchiesta, Untaxed. In un periodo di aumento del costo della vita, la ricerca di un alloggio a prezzi accessibili sta diventando un compito sempre più gravoso per milioni di europei. Untaxed offre uno sguardo approfondito su una tematica spesso trascurata: il ruolo dei privilegi fiscali nel favorire l’emergenza abitativa in Europa.
Negli ultimi mesi, il team di Investigate Europe ha analizzato le politiche fiscali e le scappatoie concesse agli investimenti immobiliari nei vari Paesi europei. Ciò che è stato scoperto è che diversi governi europei hanno concesso enormi vantaggi fiscali agli investitori e ai proprietari immobiliari. I giornalisti di IE Maria Maggiore e Lorenzo Buzzoni danno una panoramica dei risultati ottenuti, concentrandosi sull’Italia e su Milano, dove atterra la maggior parte degli investimenti nel real estate italiano.
The post Untaxed – come le politiche fiscali dei governi hanno alimentato l’emergenza abitativa appeared first on Investigate Europe.
In this episode we take a closer look at the findings from our latest investigation series, Untaxed. At a time of rising living costs across Europe, the search for affordable housing is becoming an increasingly onerous task for millions of Europeans. Untaxed offers a timely insight into the often-overlooked role tax privileges play in shaping the housing situation across Europe.
The investigation discovered how multiple European governments give huge tax benefits to real estate investors and owners. Over the past months, Investigate Europe’s team analysed the taxation policies and loopholes given to real estate investments in several European countries. IE reporter Paulo Pena oversaw the investigation and he joins the podcast to discuss the findings.
The post Untaxed – how governments lure capital into real estate and feed the housing crisis appeared first on Investigate Europe.
Nos reporters Leïla Miñano et Maxence Peigné explorent les premières révélations faites par Investigate Europe et son partenaire Disclose, dans le cadre de notre enquête sur Perenco, premier groupe pétrolier indépendant d'Europe.
Europe is stuck in a toxic relationship. For decades, farmers have relied on chemicals to produce the food that feeds the continent, but their use remains largely unchecked. Journalist Harald Schumann joins the podcast to discuss the findings of Investigate Europe's newest investigation.
Pour mieux comprendre ce système établi par le leader mondial du grand âge et ses cadres historiques, nous interrogeons nos journalistes qui ont enquêté pendant plusieurs mois sur ce scandale : Leïla Minano, notre correspondante en France, et Maxence Peigné, notre reporter basé à Londres.
In 2021, Investigate Europe released an investigation about the for-profit elder care industry. It detailed how, even though many care homes are understaffed, and there aren’t adequate resources for residents, international corporations and financial investors continue to make huge gains. One name that kept popping up was Orpea: one of the world’s largest care home providers. It has a presence in 23 countries, with 1,100 medical facilities.
IE’s journalists have followed this story since and were now able to reveal how Orpea has relied on a secret Luxembourg company called Lipany, and how some of its top managers carried out dubious operations through a network of companies connected to Lipany. This first #OrpeaSecrets publication was followed up with reporting on how Orpea used the same network to cover up lavish commission payments to intermediaries for new care homes in France.
To understand more about what’s going on with this scandal-ridden company, we speak with two reporters who have doggedly pursued this story. Leïla Minano, IE’s reporter for France, and Maxence Peigné, IE newsfeed reporter.
After analysing piles of data and interviewing economists, fund managers, military experts, diplomats, arms producers, refugees, European and national officials, Investigate Europe’s reporters are able to show that the European military policy has been designed primarily to financially support the expansion of the European military industry.
We speak with Ingeborg Eliassen, who coordinates investigations for IE, and Paulo Pena, lead coordinator for this investigation, about the biggest findings of their latest investigation and what surprised them the most along the way.
Seconda puntata della serie di podcast in italiano del consorzio di giornalisti Investigate Europe, con il supporto della Fondazione Cariplo. Questa volta, sempre accompagnati dalla lunga esperienza in podcast di Danilo De Biasio, la giornalista Maria Maggiore spiega come è stata condotta l’inchiesta su gas e idrogeno in dodici paesi europei. La lobby che manovra le decisioni su nuovi investimenti fossili, a Bruxelles, e la grande bugia che si cela dietro il mito dell’idrogeno. Da non perdere! Con interviste a Frans Timmermans (Commissario UE per il cambiamento climatico), Eleonora Evi (eurodeputata) e Jan Ingwersen (Capo della lobby ENTSOG)
-Vous avez reccueilli des témoignages difficiles en Grèce, en Angleterre, en France, en Espagne… qu’ils viennent des familles de résidents ou du personnel. Est ce que ça vous a encore plus donné envie de fouiller ce qui se cache derrière les publicités mirobolantes des maisons de retraite privées ? -L’UE a-t-elle tourné le dos aux personnes âgées ? -Comment la situation s’est elle détériorée à ce point pour les personnes résidentes des EHPAD privés ? Et surtout pourquoi le système de régulation et de contrôle n’est pas au point ? -L’enquête s’appelle “Grey Gold” : est-ce à dire que les gros investisseurs financiers choisissent désormais d’investir sur les personnes âgées comme on le ferait sur le pétrole ou de l’immobilier ? -Vous avez démontré que certains groupes avaient construits de véritables montages financiers pour cachers leurs profits, gagnés grâce aux subventions publiques, comment êtes vous parvenu.e.s à cette conclusion ? -La majorité des grands acteurs du secteur sont français, et on l’a vu avec le Covid et les grèves de personnel qui ont touché le groupe Korian, les EHPAD privés prospèrent dans notre pays, au détriment parfois des résidents. Penses-tu que l’on pourrait en arriver à renationaliser ce secteur, comme l’a fait la Norvège ? -Tu as travaillé particulièrement sur le cas du groupe ORPEA, peux tu nous en dire plus ?
-Il y a quelques mois, IE sortait une enquête sur la vaccination pour tous, quelles avaient été les principales découvertes de l’équipe ? -Que s’est il passé depuis ? -Pourquoi l’UE ne parvient pas à avoir la main sur les négociations des prix avec les laboratoires ? -La Commission européenne préfère ne pas révéler les identités de ses intermédiaires, censés représenter les intérêts des États membres auprès des laboratoires : qu’est ce que cache ce manque de transparence ? -Qui sont ces personnes ? -Tu as retrouvé un ex-lobbyiste du secteur pharmaceutique représentant la Suède dans l’équipe conjointe de négociation… est-ce pareil en France ?
- En quoi ce sujet est-il particulièrement symptomatique des hypocrisies de l’UE ?
- Pourquoi le Connecting Europe Express, l’opération marketing de l’Europe a-t-il fait un flop cette année ?
- En quoi le principe de rentabilité qui s’applique au train favorise-t-il le secteur aérien ?
- En France, on a une vraie relation de haine/passion avec notre train : il faut que ce soit moins cher, sans sacrifier le service public des petites lignes… la mise en concurrence en France aura les memes effets que dans les autres pays d’Europe ?
- Est-ce vrai que le Royaume Uni se mord les doigts d’avoir cédé aux sirènes de la libéralisation ?
- La région PACA vient de céder la gestion de la ligne Nice-Marseille à une autre compagnie que la SNCF avec des promesses mirobolante pour les usagers… qu'arrivera-t-il aux petites lignes peu rentables ?
“Dalla strada alla ferrovia" è stato per decenni il mantra dell’UE. Fin dal 2001, i pacchetti ferroviari sono stati progettati per aprire le ferrovie alla concorrenza, collegare le ferrovie nazionali per renderle un insieme coerente e portare molte più merci e molti più passeggeri sui binari. Purtroppo niente di tutto questo è successo. Oggi è più difficile viaggiare in treno attraverso l'Europa di quanto lo fosse prima di tutte queste riforme. Le ferrovie europee continuano ad essere un mosaico di sistemi diversi più che una rete, alla mercé degli interessi delle compagnie ferroviarie nazionali, decise a difendere i propri interessi particolari a suon di politiche protezionistiche. Nell’anno europeo del treno, Lorenzo Buzzoni e Maria Maggiore di IE raccontano a Danilo De Biasio chi sono i colpevoli dell’uccisione dei treni europei, con attenzione al caso italiano, dagli investimenti all’Alta Velocità, al megaprogetto della Galleria del Brennero, passando per la situazione critica in cui versa il trasporto ferroviario al sud.
Con interviste ad Anna Donati Responsabile Kyoto Club), Andrea Giuricin (Economista dei trasporti dell’Università Bicocca di Milano), Enrico Giovannini (Ministro delle infrastrutture e della mobilità sostenibile), Adina Valean (Commissaria UE per i trasporti) e Thomas Klapfer (Sindaco di Fortezza).
Reporter Attila Kálmán describes the recent investigation of the cross-border team at Investigate Europe, which looks at European railways. Trains don't make for a vibrant transport modality even though the EU has publicly proclaimed its enthusiasm for a 'road to rail' shift. Given that trains are a far more environmentally-friendly alternative to road transportation, why are they being under-invested in? Attila tries to shed some light on this.
In this episode, we take a break from the "behind the scenes" perspectives from our investigations, and take a look at the bigger picture. Elisa Simantke, Editorial Director and one of the founding members of IE, speaks with us about how this journalism cooperative came into existence and what the future holds.
Across Europe, elderly people and their relatives are sharing a terrible experience: understaffed with overworked caregivers, the situation in care homes can become a threat to the lives of residents. The Covid-19 pandemic caused an escalation of the already dire circumstances in many countries. But while there is a shortage of care workers almost everywhere given the ever-growing number of people in need, international corporations and financial investors are making huge profits. IE journalist Harald Schumann, who was one of the coordinators of this investigation, speaks with host Oliver Moldenhauer about the findings.
Le journaliste suédois d'Investigate Europe, Sigrid Melchior, a parlé au micro du podcast Investigate Europe sur l'enquête cross-border sur le double standard alimentaire en Europe.
Polish reporter Food duality in Europe Wojciech Cieśla spoke to the Investigate Europe podcast about co-coordinating the cross-border effort to uncover food duality in Europe.
La journaliste Leïla Miñano nous explique ce qu'est le Traité sur la charte de l'énergie, comment il fonctionne, et en quoi il menace directement les volontés politiques en faveur du climat. Spoiler : c'est grâce à un réseau de tribunaux internationaux d'arbitrage, qui accordent des millions d'euros de dédommagement à des investisseurs du secteur de l'énergie.
Der Energie-Charta-Vertrag erlaubt es Energie-Konzernen Staaten vor Schattengerichten auf Milliarden-Entschädigungen zu verklagen, wenn die aus Öl und Kohle aussteigen. Investigate-Europe-Reporter Nico Schmidt spricht über ein kaum bekanntes Abkommen und weshalb es das Erreichen von Europas Klimazielen gefährden könnte.
Journalist Leïla Miñano explains what the Energy Charter Treaty is, how it works, and why it poses a threat to climate-friendly legislation, thanks to a network of international arbitration tribunals that award millions in compensation to energy investors.
A conversation with Investigate Europe's journalist Ingeborg Eliassen about the role of vaccine nationalism in the fight against Covid-19, and how alliances have been established to ensure fairer access.
In this episode of the Investigate Europe, Maria Maggiore explains the findings behind our recent investigation on Europe's gas trap. IE's findings, as Maggiore points out, work against Europe's ambitious climate goals. Currently, there are gas projects worth at least €104 billion underway or in planning. Despite environmental risks, fossil-based gas projects have been guaranteed funding by the EU. Plus, Maggiore explains, the hand of the gas lobby in Brussels is very powerful.
In the third episode of the Investigate Europe podcast, host Oliver Moldenhauer speaks with investigative journalist Paulo Pena about the Council of the European Union. Speaking about indefinitely-delayed directives in the Council — such as Country-by-Country-Reporting and the women's quota — Pena explains how the Council functions in a secretive manner that is harmful to democracy. Pena's work is part of a larger ongoing investigation by Investigate Europe.
Greek journalist Stavros Malichudis located a book in the ashes of Moria, the Greek refugee camp located on the island of Lesbos. Spanning six months, the entries were written by employees of the International Organization for Migration, the UN-affiliated body tasked with caring for the Greek refugee camp's unaccompanied minors. Malichudis shares findings from the book.
IE reporter Harald Schumann explains the findings behind Investigate Europe’s recent research into fossil fuel subsidies and what this means for Europe’s climate goals. He provides examples that demonstrate how pervasive these subsidies are — ranging from the ‘diesel privilege’ to benefits enjoyed by the aviation industry.