These updates capture the most important items of evidence collected by the LobbyMap platform, allowing users to track how companies are industry associations are seeking to influence climate policy in real-time.
The EU steel sector, including Eurofer, SSAB, thyssenkrupp and ArcelorMittal, advocated to weaken the eligibility criteria for state funding for heavy industry in the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) in 2025 public consultation responses. Following oppositional advocacy on the file in direct comments to the EU Commission, measures related to steel in the CISAF were watered down to include rules to award state aid funding to non-IPCC aligned technologies.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) stated support for the German government's 10-Point Paper for an "economically viable and realistic" energy transition in favor of international competitiveness. The Plan advocates for "technological openness" in the energy transition, including limiting renewable development to what is "needed and economically efficient", and giving a prominent role to non-renewable hydrogen, gas power plants, and carbon capture utilization and storage. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) supported the package in a 15 September press release, advocating for financial viability and industrial competitiveness to be considered alongside climate neutrality. The German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) supported the Plan while advocating for a more manageable renewable expansion and "more pragmatism" in hydrogen and CCUS utilization, in a 15 September press release.
In a press release published on 8 July, European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) President Ilham Kadri supported the goals of the Chemical Industry Action Plan in conjunction with the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework. While voicing support for the Action Plan’s Omnibus package, the German Chemical Industry Association advocated to revise other policies without taking a clear position on the climate ambition of the policies in an 8 July press release. In its reaction press release on 15 July, INEOS stated that the Action Plan does not address the high costs of gas and high carbon prices, and seemed to suggest that climate policies such as carbon pricing are having negative impacts on international competitiveness.
Following the European Commission’s 8 July announcement that it had finalized the Delegated Act defining low-carbon hydrogen, both Hydrogen Europe and the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) issued press releases that appeared unsupportive of the final rules. Hydrogen Europe advocated for the continued use of power purchase agreements (PPAs) to source low-carbon electricity, while VCI argued that the rules are "too strict."
In a 10 July joint declaration, the French cross-sector association MEDEF and the Italian cross-sector association Confindustria advocated for a weakening of both the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). Despite supporting some measures to increase the effectiveness of the CBAM, the associations advocated for including unspecified "export adjustments" and promoted a continuation of existing carbon leakage protection measures under the ETS until at least 2030, in misalignment with the EU Commission's adopted phaseout starting in 2026. In addition, MEDEF and Confindustria called for a "structural review" of the EU ETS due to its potential impacts on European international competitiveness, and called for the extension of the scope of indirect cost compensation through the scheme.
In a 23 June joint statement, multiple industry associations including Eurogas, FuelsEurope, and the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC) opposed the EU Hydrogen and Gas Decarbonization Package Delegated Act on the definition of low-carbon hydrogen. The entities advocated to weaken the Delegated Act by not supporting stringent measures on methane leakage and promoting the grandfathering of existing production facilities. The signatories also advocated for a technology-neutral policy framework for hydrogen, in contradiction to the EU Commission's ambition to primarily promote renewable hydrogen, as stated in its July 2020 Hydrogen Strategy.
According to a 5 June press release, American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Mike Sommers appeared to oppose the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Sommers claimed that the CSDDD “could completely eliminate American oil and gas companies from operating in the European Union,” and that the measures “should be considered a non-tariff barrier.”
In a position paper published on 22 May 2025, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) advocated for a weakening of the EU's New State Aid Framework proposed by the EU Commission as part of the Clean Industrial Deal. The association called for less stringent eligibility criteria than proposed by the EU Commission, for example for fossil gas-based projects, hydrogen production and carbon capture technologies. It also promoted a generally technology-neutral approach to state aid allocation for decarbonization projects.
BP, ConocoPhillips, Engie, Eni, Equinor, Eurogas, Naturgy, Repsol, and Uniper signed a 28 April joint letter addressed to EU Commissioners, Commission Vice Presidents, and Presidencies of the Council, emphasizing concerns with measures of the Methane Regulation for the energy sector. The letter suggested that the regulation jeopardizes EU energy security in light of the bloc’s goal to eliminate Russian gas imports. It also recommended delaying measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) requirements, and establishing equivalence between nations and methane intensity reporting, including a grace period for the application of penalties until implementing regulations are in place.
On 5 March, Automotive News reported that Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan advocated against the European Union introducing a weaker three-year compliance window to meet 15% 2025 CO2 targets. The CEO further criticized the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) industry association, which Volvo Cars left in 2022, for working with EU policymakers to weaken the EU's primary climate policy to decarbonize road transport.
On 9 December, an industry coalition representing the European chemicals, aluminium, and electricity sectors published a series of policy recommendations to EU policymakers, as an outcome of the Antwerp Dialogue on Industrial Electrification & Competitiveness. The signatories of the joint recommendations, which included the European Cement Association (CEMBUREAU), the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and Eurelectric, expressed broad support for a Clean Industrial Deal to enable the decarbonization of the energy sector. However, several policy recommendations did not appear to be aligned with the EU Commission's original policy ambition. For example, entities advocated against reducing indirect cost compensation as part of reforms to the EU Emissions Trading System, and did not seem to support prioritizing non-fossil flexibility support schemes in the EU Electricity Market Design reform.
In a 9 December joint letter to the new EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen, Unilever and Danone strongly supported policy to make agricultural production less resource and land intensive whilst simultaneously supporting the need for transitioning consumer diets. The joint letter cited the conclusions of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture, calling for increasing environmental payments under the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and supporting the creation of Agriculture Just Transition and Nature Funds.
On 3 December, ArcelorMittal Executive Chairman Lakshmi N Mittal stated in an op-ed published in the Financial Times, appeared to doubt the economic and technical feasibility of steel decarbonization in Europe, stressing the costs of technologies such as green hydrogen. The op-ed did not support the current regulations tackling steel decarbonization in the EU, emphasizing the risks of carbon leakage and the impacts on international competitiveness from climate policy. The Chairman also advocated for unclear reforms to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, although he promoted the need to close potential loopholes in the file. These statements came a few days after ArcelorMittal published a press release in which it announced that it would delay planned decarbonization projects based on direct reduced iron (DRI) across Europe.
In a 22 November joint statement, the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (Medef), the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria) did not appear to fully support previously adopted reforms and regulations under the European Green Deal. The joint statement advocated for reforms to the EU ETS, including delays of implementation until the introduction of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism proves "effective," and called for an earlier revision of the EU CO2 emission standards for cars and vans. The industry associations also called for a technology-neutral approach to the deployment of low-carbon energy, which does not clearly align with scientific recommended pathways to achieve net zero by 2050. The joint statement seemed to support additional investments for the green transition in Europe, however without stating a position on the need for stringent regulations and advocating for the review of existing legislation and increased focus of future legislation to better protect industry competitiveness.
Several hydrogen related industry associations, including Hydrogen Europe, Hydrogen Council, Australian Hydrogen Council, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA), and Japan Hydrogen Association (JH2A) signed an open letter calling for further incentives and mandates for clean hydrogen production to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors. The letter was released on 15 November, during COP29 and supports the COP29 Declarations and Pledges Letter.
In a 5 November joint statement, BusinessEurope, European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), Copa-Cogeca, EuroCommerce, FoodDrinkEurope and the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) called for the EU’s CSDDD to be simplified. These groups claim simplifying the policy and reducing regulatory burden is “essential to support the competitiveness of businesses operating in the EU.”
A collective of European industry associations, including Eurogas, FuelsEurope and the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA) released a 25 October joint statement pushing to weaken the EU light-and-heavy-duty vehicle CO2 emission standards. The statement called for policymakers to prioritize a technology neutral approach over electrification, citing the need to enable consumer choice and for the market to play a role in decarbonization.
In a 4 October Euractiv article, the president of the Confederation of the Italian Industry (Confindustria), Emmanuel Orsini, voiced concerns about the upcoming phase out of free allowances in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), stating “we cannot afford to lose pivotal supply chains due to key policy choices that we now know were wrong”. In the same article, Euractiv also reported that Confindustria will push for scrapping the new ETS for buildings and road transport, which is due to come in force in 2027.
In a 2 October press release, Airlines for Europe (A4E) opposed the French government's proposal to increase the country's aviation tax, warning that this would cause “significant damage” to the competitiveness of the French aviation industry and set back decarbonization efforts.
On 30 September, AmCham EU published a position paper in which it advocated for the EU Commission to “urgently defer the date of application of the EUDR by one year”. The chamber cited a lack of appropriate implementation guidance for companies as the main reason for this demand. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was set to enter into force on 30 December this year. On 2 October, the EU Commission proposed to delay the implementation of the regulation, thereby responding to concerns voiced by both companies and Member States.
InfluenceMap's latest Transport Bulletin highlights insights into the advocacy of major companies and their industry associations on global transport policy during the first half of 2025.
InfluenceMap’s analysis indicates that there is a major transparency gap between the climate lobbying taking place in the UK, and that which is disclosed by companies and the Government.
This online briefing is the fourth in InfluenceMap’s regular series expanding on recent corporate engagement with global methane policy captured on the Methane Platform.
How industry debate over climate and competitiveness is shaping the future of European climate policy.
This briefing contains an overview of the corporate lobbying detected by InfluenceMap related to fossil fuels from Q1 2025.
A new report by InfluenceMap shows how the oil & gas and utilities industries are leveraging a common fossil fuel playbook to prolong the use of fossil gas in buildings globally.
