Bolt—Bolt drafted fake government letter to Estonian officials to weaken EU worker protections
Internal documents obtained by Corporate Europe Observatory October 2023 showed Bolt's EU lobbyist Aurélien Pozzana drafted letter as if written by Estonian government asking Spanish EU Presidency to stick to weaker worker protections. Email to Estonian Deputy General showed meetings with Minister of Economy and Minister of Finance 'went well' and shared draft letter hoping 'Estonian Government could sign and encourage other allied Member States.' Letter written as if drafted by Estonian government, not by Bolt. Reporting caused public outcry in Estonia. Bolt has almost 50 employees working on regulations in lobbying capacity.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deceptive Lobbying | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Gig Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.572 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Corporate Europe Observatory exposed Bolt drafted fake government letter to weaken worker protections
Corporate Europe Observatory published May 2024 internal documents showing Bolt's EU lobbyist Aurélien Pozzana drafted letter October 26, 2023 as if written by Estonian government. Email to Estonian Deputy General for Economy Sandra Särav stated meetings with Minister of Economy and Finance 'went well' and shared draft letter hoping 'Estonian Government could sign and encourage other allied Member States' to weaken EU Platform Work Directive. Letter written as if drafted by government, not Bolt. Caused public outcry in Estonia. Bolt has almost 50 employees in lobbying roles.