@Reuters RT @rtenews: Ireland criticised over EU Presidency car fleet http://t.co/aa4Bx2eJd1 pic.twitter.com/ZM5mbwsHZG http://t.co/eAXSAFzWxK
— Luke Baker (@LukeReuters) February 24, 2014
“It is very worrying that governments, in return for relatively small amounts of sponsorship money, are willing to risk damaging their credibility and that of the EU presidency,” said Olivier Hoedeman, research and campaigns coordinator at Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels corruption watchdog.
BMW and Audi say their sponsorship was only about raising their profile in European markets. Audi, for example, said it regularly applied via tenders to provide cars for events because “it helps the Audi brand to increase both reputation and popularity”.
