
Goliath vs. David: The race to the EU defense money
The war in Ukraine has unveiled a new threat to Europe’s security: Russia’s deployment of hypersonic missiles. With their unparalleled speed and maneu
Tomas Vanheste (1968) acquired a PhD in the philosophy of science, technology and society. He worked as an editor at publishing house De Bezige Bij and as a researcher at the municipality of Utrecht. His career in journalism began at the magazine Vrij Nederland, where he worked for nine years. In 2013, he joined the online journalism platform De Correspondent. He has been an independent journalist since early 2020, writing about European affairs. Vanheste lives in and works from Belgium. For the Investigative Desk, he works on research into European defence and agricultural policies.
The war in Ukraine has unveiled a new threat to Europe’s security: Russia’s deployment of hypersonic missiles. With their unparalleled speed and maneu
Read the full newsletter here. Dear readers, In this special edition we present you two major stories we just published. An international team,
The past few years, the four biggest tobacco companies (Philip Morris International/Altria, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International and
Since the February 2022 invasion, Ukraine’s five main military partners alone (US, Germany, UK, Poland, and the Netherlands) pledged more than 60 bill
Read the full newsletter here. Dear reader, This time, we bring you two stories and a book. Our editor Tim Luimes investigated the lobbying activitie
Europe wants to ban all pfas at once. The chemical industry is lobbying for the exemption of fluoropolymers. These substances, a type of plastics, are
Shell knows the ways to the highest circles as well as the shortcuts through the political swamps. The oil and gas giant operates in 70 countries. Mos
Insurers themselves determine whether someone has committed fraud, impose sanctions immediately and hardly ever report this. This leaves police, prose
Young Chinese vape manufacturers, TikTok influencers advertising for fifty euros and underage ‘Snapchat dealers’: the promotion and sale of e-cigarett
Former Dutch minister of Infrastructure Cora van Nieuwenhuizen ignored the lobbying ban for contacts with former ministers. This was discovered by doc
Over a year ago, Tim Luimes, member of The Investigative Desk, came up with the idea to start a cross-border project about “forever chemicals” PFAS an
Read the full newsletter here. Hi there, We’re a little late this year with our Q4 2022 newsletter, so we decided to include it in our January 2023 o
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine desperately needed weapons to defend itself. European private arms dealers saw an opportunity an
JDE Peet’s, parent company of the Dutch Douwe Egberts firm, wants 100 percent of its coffee to be sustainably grown by 2025. But it doesn’t know exact
There were “unacceptable environmental and social risks,” export credit insurer Atradius ruled. Nevertheless, Dutch shipbuilder IHC struck a deal with
Rare metals for car batteries, turbines and electronics will soon come from four kilometers deep in the Pacific Ocean. In a year from now, companies w
A big investigation by The Investigative Desk in collaboration with Follow the Money and Platform Authentic Journalism uncovered new information about
Port terminals in European cities such as Gdynia, Rotterdam and Antwerpen-Zeebrugge are crucial logistic hubs for the arrival of US Armed Forces and e
Read the full newsletter here. Dear reader, In this newsletter we present you two of our recent publications and offer you a preview on some of our p
From tobacco paradise Indonesia to tax paradise Switzerland: tobacco company Philip Morris makes hundreds of millions euros in profit by advantages it
Consumers and small entrepreneurs who have a complaint against their bank or insurer, can submit it to the Dutch Institute for Financial Disputes “Kla
Read the full newsletter here. Dear reader, In this newsletter, we present you eight of the investigations we published in Q2 of this year. They are
NATO cannot strengthen its eastern flank fast enough. The European military transport rail and road network still faces enormous bottlenecks. “The fur
Enormous quantities of a carcinogenic toxin were dumped by the 3M chemical plant near Antwerp and ended up in the Netherlands via the Scheldt. “We did
Covid vaccine equity remains out of reach, as wealthy nations drag their feet on donations, and vaccine stocks pass their use-by dates. By Lucien Hord
Read the full newsletter here. Dear reader, We’ve been been extremely busy in Q1 and have published quite a few stories. There are more to come. So w
The Dutch government is lobbying for business opportunities in the Arctic region, but at the same time is trying to work with scientists to protect th
Gazprom suddenly announced it would ‘cease participation’ in several European subsidiaries. The announcement surprised friend and foe alike. It was th
Dutch companies dredge, drill, sail and haul in the Arctic. The enormous energy projects that Russian state-owned companies are rolling out along the
The control room of Turk Stream, the southern brother of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, is located above a Coolblue shop on the Amsterd
The patent on the cancer drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) recently expired. Whereas a few weeks ago a pack still cost over 4,500 euros, after generic comp
Giving farmers a reasonable income and ensuring that their farms are environmentally friendly are key objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy, wh
We did not know that public health was at risk. So say the ministers responsible for the 2017 decision to keep quiet about the PFOS contamination. In
Phosphate ceiling or not, Vreba Melkvee, the largest dairy farm in the Netherlands, continued to grow. During an environmental audit early last year,
Dutch local authorities want to terminate their supply contract with Gazprom. Last year, The Investigative Desk and Follow The Money revealed that ove
A quarter of Dutch pension funds, including major players such as Shell, Heineken and Retail, do not rule out investing in the tobacco industry. In do
Big Tobacco is stringing together sustainability and corporate responsibility awards, according to research by The Investigative Desk. This provides t
The Indonesian government is suspected of giving privileges to electronic cigarettes issued by HM Sampoerna. Receiving excise cuts, the IQOS and HEET
The UN conference on stricter tobacco policy has fizzled out. ‘Milestone’: a minuscule fund to help poor countries getting rid of tobacco. Internation
Read the full newsletter here. Dear reader, I’m glad to report that in the past year, the number of our followers has steadily grown. We have therefor
An investigation by “Le Monde” and “The Investigative Desk” (Netherlands) reveals the alliance between the tobacco lobby and the networks of American
Using a set of legal tricks, the pharmaceutical industry was able to turn an animal gallic acid into a medicine that costs tons of money per year. Res
With a sophisticated lobby, oil company Royal Dutch Shell influenced the political position of the Netherlands on Nord Stream 2, The Investigative Des
Footwear company Crocs bypasses European and US efforts to end a widely used form of tax avoidance in the Netherlands. Due to interventions by both Br
The Dutch and Russian governments regularly discuss energy projects. The Working Party on Energy, which had been suspended in 2014 after the shooting
Scientists and activists were euphoric when the EU banned the extremely harmful neonic pesticides in 2018. During the next three years, sixteen EU cou
Read the full newsletter here. During the first half of 2021 we realised a record number of 17 publications, many of which drew widespread attention.
Dozens of large arms manufacturers use the county as a conduit for financing their sales deals. The Netherlands plays an important role as a financia
The COVID-19 crisis gave a huge boost to remote working. Microsoft is profiting handsomely from this development. The use of the company’s software pr
The Brazilian tax authorities are demanding more than 2 billion euros from Unilever in connection with a restructuring of the food group in 2001. The
Two prominent oligarchs have become victims of Russia’s termination of the tax treaty with the Netherlands, according to research by The Investigative
Scientific papers suggesting that smokers are less likely to fall ill with covid-19 are being discredited as links to the tobacco industry are reveale
FrieslandCampina is the largest private funder of dairy science at Wageningen University & Research, the world’s top agricultural university, base
The Dutch CoronaMelder app and its equivalents in other countries are used in around one in twenty-five COVID-19 cases. This has been shown by researc
This data below is part of a cross-border investigation into corona-tech, called ‘Spooky Mayfly’. Journalists Dorien Vanmeldert, Tim Verheyden, and Ba
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World claims to strive for a ‘smoke-free world’. In reality, founder and financier Philip Morris uses the foundation t
Pharmaceutical firm Novartis charges €2 million for a single intravenous infusion — but the National Health Care Institute in the Netherlands declared
Local offices of the Red Cross accepted more than 3 million dollar in donations from tobacco producer Philip Morris. This goes against the instruction
The Investigative Desk has discovered that until 2015 a remarkable amount of money from cigarette manufacturers flowed to Switzerland via the Netherla
When flight MH17 was downed by a Russian missile in 2014, the Netherlands froze diplomatic and trade relations with Russia. At least, to the outside w
Gazprom is much more influential in the Netherlands than is commonly thought. The company developed into an indispensable pillar of the Dutch energy s
Leaked documents show that the European Commission put pressure on the European Medicines Agency to approve the first Covid-19 vaccines simultaneously
The Brazilian government is demanding 350 million euros from tobacco giant British American Tobacco for tax avoidance, research by The Investigative D
Read the full newsletter here. In 2020 – our second year – we have been very productive. We embarked on some thirty investigations. Half of these resu
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) takes pride in its excellent relations with the food and agriculture industry. It is particularly close wit
A cross-border investigation uncovered how COVID-19 is used a marketing opportunity for the tobacco industry. For decades the tobacco industry casted
The drug’s manufacturer was aware of the negative results of the Solidarity trial before the European Commission struck a procurement deal with it, fi
Tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris conducts a sophisticated lobby in the Netherlands, using a meticulous international step-by-step plan. Yet it still
Four tobacco companies channel about 40 per cent of their annual profits through the Netherlands to avoid taxes. Despite international measures, this
New research from the Investigative Desk with support from the University of Bath shows, for the first time on this scale, which tax avoidance methods
A Dutch advocacy group claims that women receive worse care than men, because pharmaceutical companies do not sufficiently test their medicines on wom
According to the Dutch tax authorities (Belastingdienst), British American Tobacco channelled 4 billion euros in worldwide profits through the Netherl
British American Tobacco (BAT) is fighting a record 1.2 billion euro claim for tax avoidance. Thursday 30 October a court in the city of Haarlem wil
Research by The Investigative Desk has shown that the tobacco industry, by using its contacts in the biggest party in the Dutch government coalition,
Most of the demand for (refresher) training courses for doctors in the Netherlands is fulfilled by industry- sponsored programmes. Even after decades
Two decades of EU market protection of ‘orphan’ (rare disease) medicines have greatly benefitted the industry. According to research by The Investigat
New innovative medicines should be made available to European citizens more quickly. That is why the European Medicines Agency updates the process for
Violations of the advertisement ban by tobacco manufacturers are seldom noticed by inspection authorities. That is the conclusion of The Investigative
Since the summer of 2019, the media have reported about British American Tobacco’s marketing campaign for its Glo tobacco heating product, involving p
Even after the expiration of Humira’s patent protection, pharmaceutical company AbbVie almost completely fended off biosimilar competition for this bl
The Dutch government and energy firms finance research on renewable energy through the New Energy Coalition (NEC). The NEC’s turnover is expected to r
Fifty-nine percent of seventeen-year-olds succeed in buying cigarettes, according to investigations by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safet
By Ties Keyzer The NVWA (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) will impose 19 fines to tobacco manufacturers who gave discounts and
When British American Tobacco (BAT) closed its factory doors in the small town of Zevenaar in 2007, it donated 400,000 euros to set up ‘Stichting Cult
The tax authorities in the Netherlands demand 902 million pounds sterling from London-based tobacco manufacturer British American Tobacco, for alleged
Based on the Dutch Public Access to Government Information Act (Wet openbaarheid van bestuur, WOB), The Investigative Desk unearthed 1362 pages of doc
Even after the expiration of Humira’s patent protection, AbbVie, the pharmaceutical company, almost completely fended off biosimilar competition for t
Just imagine. You are not yet 18 years old, but you are a smoker. How big is the chance you can buy a pack of cigarettes over the counter? In 2018, Pa
Steve Jobs’ private plane, parked at Rotterdam Airport. It is September 2008 when local reporters receive tips about the arrival of Apple’s CEO in the
Enormous quantities of a carcinogenic toxin were dumped by the 3M chemical plant near Antwerp and ended up in the Netherlands via the Scheldt. “We
Giving farmers a reasonable income and ensuring that their farms are environmentally friendly are key objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy, which accounts for the
We did not know that public health was at risk. So say the ministers responsible for the 2017 decision to keep quiet about the PFOS
Phosphate ceiling or not, Vreba Melkvee, the largest dairy farm in the Netherlands, continued to grow. During an environmental audit early last year, the company
Scientists and activists were euphoric when the EU banned the extremely harmful neonic pesticides in 2018. During the next three years, sixteen EU countries used
The Investigative Desk is an independent platform for investigative journalism, focusing on large international industrial sectors such as tobacco, food and chemicals, finance, energy, pharmaceuticals and health care, defence and security.
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