A study published on Thursday 25 May by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) shows that the seven main players in the chemical industry now outstrip Big Tech in terms of lobbying power to influence the decisions of EU co-legislators.
The study shows that, of the 50 companies that spend the most on European lobbying, 4 companies (Bayer, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical, Dow Europe and BASF) and 3 trade associations (Cefic, Verband der Chemischen Industrie, which is the German lobby for the chemical industry, and Plastics Europe) reported spending €33.5 million in the most recent year lobbying EU institutions, more than any of the high-tech or energy players in the Top 50.
The 7 major players in the chemical industry, dubbed ‘Big Toxics’ by the NGO, have declared lobbying expenditure totalling around €293 million over the last ten years.
The study also shows that they have also benefited from 495 access cards to the European Parliament and 249 meetings (since December 2014) with the highest levels of the European Commission, according to the EU’s Transparency Register.
In the opinion of the NGO, they seem to have the ear of decision-makers at the highest level, which could explain, among other things, the postponement of the reform of the REACH regulation and the regulatory pauses or moratoria in the environmental field, requested by the right-wing in the European Parliament and, more recently, by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, points out a CEO press release.
“Lobbying by Big Toxics has already delayed the much-needed reform of the REACH regulation on chemicals. And we can see that lobby sharks are circling around the proposal to restrict thousands of ‘forever chemicals’” (known as PFAS), commented Vicky Cann, researcher and campaigner with CEO.
See the study: https://aeur.eu/f/73r (Aminata Niang)