April 2023

Wasteland

Wasteland – Europe’s plastic disaster

Europe has a problem with plastics. Cheap, versatile and in constant production, plastic is in our milk bottles and toothpaste tubes. And our seas, fields and streams. Can EU plans for a circular economy tackle this mounting waste crisis?

Discover the full investigation "Wasteland – Europe’s plastic disaster"

December 2022

Untaxed

Untaxed – how governments lure capital into real estate and feed the housing crisis

European governments give huge tax benefits to real estate investors and owners. This lures billions of euros to the overheated real estate market and feeds the housing crisis that affects millions.

Discover the full investigation "Untaxed – how governments lure capital into real estate and feed the housing crisis"

November 2022

Perenco Files

Perenco Files: the toxic world of a little-known European oil giant

The Franco-British oil and gas corporation Perenco is little-known but powerful. We shed light on the company's footprint in the world, including alleged pollution, structures in tax havens and political ties.

Discover the full investigation "Perenco Files: the toxic world of a little-known European oil giant"

September 2022

Fuelling war

Fuelling war — how European ships keep Russia’s economy afloat

Europe is set to phase out its dependence on Russian oil, gas and coal. But as sanctions loom and import volumes sink, a network of European ships continues to transport Russian fossil fuels and help fill the pockets of Putin’s regime.

Discover the full investigation "Fuelling war — how European ships keep Russia’s economy afloat"

June 2022

Silent Death

Silent Death – Europe’s deep-rooted pesticide problem and a biodiversity crisis

Europe is stuck in a toxic relationship. For decades, farmers have relied on chemicals to produce the food that feeds the continent. The perils of pesticides are widely known, but their use remains largely unchecked. As a biodiversity crisis unfolds, can Europe address its silent pesticide problem?

Discover the full investigation "Silent Death – Europe’s deep-rooted pesticide problem and a biodiversity crisis"

March 2022

Military power

Arming the EU — The long road towards a united defence

Europe is on the way to become a military power, but so far mostly to the benefit of arms producers and with little democratic control.

Discover the full investigation "Arming the EU — The long road towards a united defence"

November 2021

Derailed

Derailed — The desolate state of European railways

Even though the EU has declared 2021 the 'Year of Rail', Europe's railways are more a patchwork than a network. EU countries still invest significantly more money in road than rail, despite the urgent need for more climate-friendly transportation.

Discover the full investigation "Derailed — The desolate state of European railways"

July 2021

For-Profit Elder Care

Grey gold — The billion Euro business of elder care

Understaffed with overworked caregivers, the situation in care homes across Europe can pose a threat to the lives of residents. And yet, international corporations and financial investors continue to reap lucrative profits in the sector.

Discover the full investigation "Grey gold — The billion Euro business of elder care"

February 2021

Energy Charter Treaty

The Energy Charter Treaty

Within 2050, Europe is to have cut almost all greenhouse emissions. That is going to be demanding enough. But the little-known Energy Charter Treaty could become a massive threat to the EU and its member states in trying to achieve their climate targets. Investigate Europe delves into the treaty and its ramifications for climate neutrality.

Discover the full investigation "The Energy Charter Treaty"

November 2020

Secrets of the council

Secrets of the Council

The Council of the European Union: 27 Governments. 150 committees. Unnamed diplomats. Secret negotiations. Thousands of paragraphs written into the laws that govern our lives. That is why our team will be following the Council’s proceedings closely, reporting on which governments are blocking or watering down legislative proposals, and with whom they are in league.

Discover the full investigation "Secrets of the Council"

October 2020

Gas Trap

Europe in the Gas Trap

Despite Europe's ambitious climate goals, natural gas projects with potentially high methane emissions are being planned across the continent.

Discover the full investigation "Europe in the Gas Trap"

July 2020

Subsidies

Dirty Subsidies: How Europe sabotages its climate goals

2020 was supposed to be the year the EU would launch its ambitious plan to tackle the climate crisis. But why does Europe sabotage its climate goals by subsidising the fossil sector by more than €137 billion per year?

Discover the full investigation "Dirty Subsidies: How Europe sabotages its climate goals"

May 2020

Vaccines

Covid-19: A Vaccine For Us All?

The world urgently needs 20 billion doses of a vaccine that will protect global citizens against the coronavirus. States are throwing huge sums of public money at the race to beat Covid-19, but who will get there first? Will Big Pharma focus on private profit? Will vaccine nationalism prevail, or will the patent be shared?

Discover the full investigation "Covid-19: A Vaccine For Us All?"

March 2020

Covid-19

Special report: Covid-19

In light of the crisis sweeping Europe, our team has decided to use our position as a cross-border team to look at the political landscape and the different national strategies being followed.

Discover the full investigation "Special report: Covid-19"

January 2020

Minor migrants

Minor migrants: Detained In Europe’s prisons

Investigate Europe reveals that minor migrants are detained in shocking prison-like conditions across Europe, without adequate schooling or medical attention. And, they are exposed to abuse.

Discover the full investigation "Minor migrants: Detained In Europe’s prisons"

October 2019

Inside a troll farm

Inside a troll farm

For six-months an undercover journalist joined our investigation team looking into disinformation. Working for a commercial troll farm in Warsaw, she and her colleagues managed almost 200 profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, wrote thousands of messages and comments, promoted her clients products and trolled politicians and her clients' competitors. Read our report on what the troll farm work was described internally as the "Lame Rebellion".

Discover the full investigation "Inside a troll farm"

September 2019

China: rescuer or rival?

China: rescuer or rival?

The rise of China to an economic superpower poses a strategic dilemma for European governments. The 1.4 billion-people empire in the Far East has become an indispensable part of its economy, as a sales market as well as investor. But with an increasingly bitter trade war between the US and China, Europe is finding itself caught in the middle without a clear and united policy on how it deals with Chinese investment.

Discover the full investigation "China: rescuer or rival?"

April 2019

The Disinformation machine

The disinformation machine

The rise of digital platforms has changed the way, and the type of information that is shared faster than society, laws and even politicians can keep up with. Now minor (and often malevolent) actors and political fringe groups have access to a far-reaching medium which can be used to proliferate disinformation and stir resentments of all kind.

Discover the full investigation "The disinformation machine"

January 2019

The 5G mass experiment

5G: Big promises, unknown risks

Are you happy with 4G mobile? You may be, but governments and industry are already looking at the next level - 5G - and the infrastructure for 'smart homes' and the 'internet of things'. According to EU plans, Europe will be hyper-connected by 2025. And why the rush?

Discover the full investigation "5G: Big promises, unknown risks"

September 2018

Sweatshops on wheels

Sweatshops on wheels

Big haulage companies exploit drivers from low-wage countries as a business model, often with severe consequences for those behind the wheel. In a process known as social dumping, companies employ migrant workers paying them at a level far below the accepted rate for drivers in the countries they’re working.

Discover the full investigation "Sweatshops on wheels"

July 2018

Private flights

Private jets exempt from data collection law pose crime risk

Investigate Europe looks at how a foreseen loophole in the collection of passenger flight details -exempting private jets - could facilitate criminal activity.

Discover the full investigation "Private jets exempt from data collection law pose crime risk"

May 2018

Blackrock

Blackrock – The company that owns the world?

There’s a good chance you have never heard of Blackrock. In less than 30 years, this American financial firm has grown from nothing to becoming the world’s largest and most trusted manager of other people’s money. The assets left in their care are worth a staggering 6.3 trillion US dollars – a figure with 12 zeroes.

Discover the full investigation "Blackrock – The company that owns the world?"

December 2017

Europe’s precariat

Race to the bottom: Europe’s precariat

Labour contracts without health and social insurance. Involuntary part-time. Fixed-term and agency jobs. Across the continent, millions of Europeans must deal with insecure and low-paid employment, though the economy, overall, is doing better than at any point in the last decade.

Discover the full investigation "Race to the bottom: Europe’s precariat"

June 2017

Microsoft

Europe’s dire dependency on Microsoft

All across Europe, from Finland to Portugal, Ireland to Greece, the information technology (IT) of government administrations is based on Microsoft programmes. But because digital systems are constantly growing in both size and importance, countries are becoming ever increasingly dependent on this single corporation.

Discover the full investigation "Europe’s dire dependency on Microsoft"

December 2016

Europe's border regime

Why the European border regime is dysfunctional

Military-style command centres, databases of millions of people, massive surveillance through remote-controlled drones, billion-Euro research and national procurement programmes. Far from the public eye, the governments of the European Union are pursuing a weighty long-term plan to use …

Discover the full investigation "Why the European border regime is dysfunctional"