03-01-2025
Over the next five years, the fossil fuel industry will use even more aggressive means to influence the new Commission. Tougher lobbying requirements have not brought about the necessary change – but the solution is not just more transparency either, according to Alberto Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby: ‘The problem is not that companies are lobbying, the problem is that NGOs are not lobbying enough.’
In November, three letters from the European Commission were circulated to a number of NGOs working on the green transition in Brussels. The money that civil society organisations have received from the EU’s LIFE climate and environment project fund can no longer be spent on press and communication work.
On the one hand, the decision echoes the ideas in the centre-right EPP group’s manifesto. On the other hand, it is an expression of the influence the right-wing has gained in the newly elected Commission, which is more blue than ever.
So far, there have been several indications that the green focus of the old Commission – which boasts the Green Deal – will be replaced by competitiveness and the economy as the main priorities. The Commission will also be what von der Leyen calls an ‘investment commission’. In short, she has sent an open invitation to the industry’s most moneyed players to help set the agenda.
With money comes interests. Since 2014, all organisations have been required to register in the EU lobby register if they seek influence in parliament. Gradually, the Union’s ethical codes and requirements have been tightened: the Commission has now expanded the requirements for who must disclose the content of their meetings between Commission officials and lobbyists – specifically, the number has increased from 400 to around 1,500.
Suboptimal politics
Anyone can lobby and anyone can do it well, says Alberto Alemanno. Because as he says: ‘Even if you are a tobacco or oil company, two very contentious industries, you have the right to engage with decision makers as long as your products are on the market.’
However, according to Alemanno, ‘good’ equals ‘transparent’: ‘You should publicise and not hide the interests you represent or try to prevent others from gaining access. I would go even further and say that if you are a big company and you see that there is not an NGO sitting at your table, you should really give politicians the chance to actually listen to the others,’ he says.
The problem is not that some are lobbying, but that there is a structural imbalance where interest organisations working on issues such as climate and nature are now falling behind.
‘The problem is not that companies are lobbying, the problem is that NGOs are not lobbying enough,’ says Alberto Alemanno, adding: ’They should have more tools, more knowledge and more resources to do their job. But it’s not a problem that can be solved with more transparency. We need to invest in having a level playing field, an environment where everyone is able to provide the same information to decision makers.’
Five aggressive years
Alberto Alemanno expects the new Commission to come up with far fewer legislative proposals than the previous one. This does not mean that lobbying will disappear, it will just take a different form.
‘There will be a lot of lobbying to reverse the decisions made by the previous Commission. The work will focus on delaying tactics and not implementing big green agreements. Everything will be about making the previous legislation less green.’
The old Commission had over 1 000 meetings with representatives from the CO2 emitting industry. Several of the newly elected Commissioners also have oil on their CVs. According to Alberto Alemanno, this is clear evidence that lobbyists’ lives will become easier in the next five years:
‘As oil has become the new tobacco, the new, most controversial industry on the market, it’s not surprising that the big oil companies are reaching out much more than before. And apparently, they’re going to make more inroads on the right, if only because the right and far right are less keen to embrace climate science. Just as their supporters are not afraid of the idea of their representatives holding meetings with Shell or ExxonMobil.’
You can read the full article here.