A coalition of major civil society organisations has issued a joint declaration to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, alleging that the EU Commission is prioritising a “shadow roadmap” of industry-led deregulation over democratic and environmental safeguards.
The warning comes as President von der Leyen prepares for a high-level meeting on Wednesday with CEFIC, the European chemical industry’s primary lobby group. The meeting is scheduled just hours before EU heads of state gather for an informal retreat on 12 February, where a new suite of deregulation measures is at the top of the agenda.
In a joint declaration released today, the coalition, which includes Corporate Europe Observatory, The Good Lobby, and Transparency International EU, denounces a “recurring pattern” of privileged access for corporate interests.
Key highlights in the joint declaration include:
- 40% of meetings held by Commissioners’ cabinet members were with individual companies, and 29% with business associations, while NGOs accounted for only 16%.
- Vital safety regulations are being systematically reframed as “regulatory burdens” to satisfy the chemical sector’s demands.
- While industry groups claim capital shortages necessitate deregulation, the coalition notes that key industrial firms distributed €1.6 trillion to shareholders (75% of net profits) between 2010 and 2023.
- The coalition warns that upcoming “Omnibus” packages risk dismantling health and environmental protections, such as rules on chemicals (PFAS) and pesticides, without standard scientific impact assessments.
The coalitions states: “The timing of this meeting gives industry a privileged opportunity to feed its demands directly into the EU heads of state summit, the coalition stated. We are witnessing a systematic rollback of vital climate and social protections.”
Kim Claes, corporate capture campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe states: “When Europe’s chemical lobby gets a private audience hours with President von der Leyen hours before heads of state meet, citizens are right to ask who is being served by EU policy. Europe’s future must be shaped by 450 million people, not a handful of powerful corporate lobbies.“
The organisations call for an immediate restoration of transparency and a “polluter pays” approach to the EU’s industrial transition, arguing that the EU’s economy should not come at the cost of public health or democratic accountability.
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