15/06/2021 (Agence Europe) – Through the business association Hydrogen Europe, industrialists with interests in fossil fuels are lobbying the European Commission for “loopholes” in the next version of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), according to a report by the NGO Global Witness which was published on 11 June. While the institution is expected to present a proposal for a revision of the directive on 14 July, 80% of the meetings about hydrogen that have been organised by senior European Commission officials have taken place with private companies or industry associations over the past 18 months, according to the document. According to Global Witness, the majority were companies and groups with interests in fossil fuels, including Shell, Eurogas, Equinor, Engie and more. The NGO fears that this will result in the European Commission to allow companies to use fossil fuel to produce hydrogen that is labelled as ‘renewable’. Access the report here: https://bit.ly/3gr6OoV (DG)