As discussions about the future of Europe’s Green Deal and other environmental measures continue, new data highlights the sometimes overlooked influence of corporate lobbying on these laws. It has long been known that there is a disconnect between businesses that openly tout their sustainability credentials and those that secretly advocate against environmental regulations. However, it has been challenging to locate reliable evidence to back up this claim until now. According to a recent investigation, industry lobbying played a role in financial services businesses’ exclusion from the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Europe’s rule governing responsible supply chains.
Sustainability goals in the EU
The exclusion of investors from EU legislation has been sharply denounced by the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights. The paper highlights the considerable resistance to the measures from the French insurers’ association, the Association des Assureurs Mutualistes (AAM), and the Italian stock exchange, Borsa Italiana. This is true even if AAM bills itself as a part of the “social and solidarity economy” under French law and Borsa Italiana is a member of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative. Company lobbying in the two years preceding the deal that exempted finance from the EU Directive’s purview was examined using the “Social LobbyMap” technique, which was based on media stories, freedom-of-information requests, and public material. Companies frequently use their organizations to spread unfavorable messages, according to a thorough examination of the stances taken by nine businesses and 10 trade groups in France, Italy, and Spain.
How businesses shape policy
Only France’s responsible investor association, L’Association AFR, spoke in support of the law, while eight of the 10 trade associations that were examined were against incorporating the banking industry. The survey points out differences inside France, where half of corporate answers supported the rule while six out of seven groups pushed against it, even though business associations throughout Europe tend to have the most sway over lobbying. The fact that none of the Italian businesses under investigation backed the plans highlights Italy’s spectacular but ultimately fruitless attempts to stop the directive in the European Council alongside Germany. The study, however, casts doubt on the notion that businesses are inherently anti-regulation. Well-known Spanish companies, such as insurance Seguros RGA, vigorously backed the rule through in-depth lobbying as well as public declarations. Companies are encouraged by the “Social LobbyMap” project to match their sustainability and purpose statements with their trade associations and their public policy initiatives. Since they are typically the ones who examine the organizations they invest in, investors are viewed as essential to accomplishing this aim.
Key industries at the forefront of lobbying efforts
The “Social LobbyMap” approach expands upon the work of the “Influence Map” initiative, which started in the US and forced many US companies to withdraw from trade groups that held regressive views on climate change. It is unclear if this new study on human rights and social campaigning will have a comparable effect in Europe. Companies will be under immediate scrutiny for their stance on this legislation due to a new European Commission consultation on guidance for the CSDDD, impending lobbying regarding the Directive’s transposition in member states, and a planned review within two years regarding whether finance might be brought back into its scope. Making sure that a company’s actions, including lobbying, are in line with its principles is a fundamental component of responsible business. The “Social LobbyMap” seeks to hold companies responsible by making sure their participation in trade associations and government relations matches their professed sustainability pledges.
The clash between profit and environmental responsibility
Concerns over corporate influence on EU legislation were voiced by the European Parliament and the civil society group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) in late January 2024. The security department will launch an investigation “on the behavior and possible security breaches of interest representatives” concerning the new packaging and packaging waste regulation (PPWR; FPF reported), according to an internal email sent by Parliament President Roberta Metsola, as reported by Politico. The CEO released a study on industrial lobbying of the European Commission over the essential use concept around the same time. In the history of the EU, the PPWR has been the most heavily lobbied political procedure. “Ahead of a pivotal vote in the Parliament in November, MEP Mohammed Chahim accused lobbyists of following his colleagues into the restroom or entering their offices without permission,” Politico said. Lobbyists must abide by a code of conduct that includes a registry of people who are permitted; the persons may be struck from the register based on the findings of the inquiry.
