The influence of the Atlas Network – a web of libertarian and ultraconservative think tanks funded by billionaires such as the Kochs – has been well documented in the US, the UK, and more recently Argentina following the election of Javier Milei. Its growing presence in the EU has been less examined. But the next EU elections could deliver a political landscape even more favourable to their ideas. This article takes a look at some of the Atlas Network’s partners in Brussels and their activities.

(...) To “change the climate of ideas”, the Atlas Network and its partners use a range of influence strategies that sometimes involve manipulation, such as offering falsely neutral expertise or ‘astroturfing’. With these methods, the Atlas Network’s partners have scored important political victories all over the world: spreading climate denialism, influencing referendum outcomes (the Voice in Australia, the referendum on the Chilean constitution, Brexit, etc.) and electing Javier Milei in Argentina. British journalist Georges Monbiot recently asked in The Guardian: “What links Rishi Sunak, Javier Milei and Donald Trump?” Answer: the Atlas Network.

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Just as it has in Argentina, in France, and around the world (read our recent investigation in French), the Atlas Network supports, nurtures and promotes its partners throughout Europe. Wherever its influence is felt it promotes a ranch of ultra free market policies that inevitably involve tax cuts for the rich, slashing public spending, massive deregulation, and opposition to climate justice, backed by well-resourced but mostly hidden funders. The politics it is promoting in Europe are no exception, and reflect a similar alliance between extreme neoliberal policies and radical conservative causes, as seen in the US .

(...) Free Trade Europa: labour rights as a “violation of freedoms”?

Although verbal violence is not uncommon on X (formerly Twitter), it is unusual to see a lobbyist publicly rejoicing at the failure of an EU Council Presidency initiative. And even less praising other Member States for giving the Spanish government a ’bloody nose’ when it failed to find a consensus on a law giving employment rights to platform workers [29]. Yet that is exactly what Free Trade Europa did, amply demonstrating the extent to which, at the end of December 2023, on the issue of the legal status of platform workers, two diametrically opposed visions of the world were clashing.

It was in particular Emmanuel Macron’s France that, in alliance with Estonia, Greece and Germany, defeated the platform workers directive, and Glen Hodgson – head of Free Trade Europa – seems to be congratulating them in his tweet. The initial draft directive drawn up by the European Commission offered the possibility for platform workers – so, people making deliveries for Deliveroo, driving for Uber, etc – to claim the status of employees with the corresponding social rights, which they do not enjoy under a self-employed or freelance status: accident insurance, paid holidays, a minimum wage and union representation. The law was approved after a long lobbying battle [30], but then blocked at the last minute at the Council of the EU, at the behest of France in particular. It was eventually greenlighted in an even more watered-down version in March.

(...) After the final vote on the European law on platform workers, Glen talked with Pieter Cleppe, a journalist close to Flemish far-right party the NVA, and castigated the European Union for “regulating, regulating, regulating”. Free Trade Europa is one of a growing number of members of the Atlas Network in Brussels who are determined to roll back regulation, and are counting on the forthcoming European elections and the rise of the right and far right to find more allies in the institutions. The experience of the directive on platform workers shows that on certain issues they can also find common ground with liberals and some EU governments, particularly that of France.

With far right parties on the rise all over Europe, there are reasons to fear that after the June elections, the EU will tilt further towards a conservative, anti-climate and anti-regulation political agenda. Given the Atlas Network’s decades-long mission of “changing the climate of ideas” and pushing back on social justice and progressive environmental policies it appears to be seeking new allies and more open doors in the EU. With the Europe Liberty Forum which recently took place in Madrid, where 191 organisations from 47 countries were represented, it demonstrated its increased strength in Europe, including in Brussels. After Argentina, the UK, and many other countries, it now has the EU in its sights.