The European Commission’s new Critical Chemicals Alliance (CCA), launched in January this year at the Chemelot industrial park in the Dutch province of Limburg, has been effectively taken over by the industry it is meant to scrutinise. This is the central finding of a report published this week by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).
The alliance’s stated purpose is to identify chemical molecules and production sites deemed “critical” to the EU economy, which could then qualify for EU or national subsidies. However, the report found that the initiative grants large chemical producers a central role in shaping this list, directly benefiting from its outcomes.
While defenders of the alliance present it as a necessary response to a crisis, citing high energy costs and competition from China, the report’s authors challenge this narrative. They point to research indicating that the chemical sector distributed three-quarters of its €322 billion in net profits to shareholders between 2010 and 2023, rather than investing in facility upgrades. Crucially, the issue of chemical contamination of the environment, soils, and waters is entirely absent from the alliance’s agenda.
The report underscores a broader concern about how EU policy is influenced by business demands, often to serve narrow interests. This week, the European Ombudsman announced an inquiry into the Commission’s “Reality Checks” – a system of closed-door consultations where large businesses complain about EU rules, with these complaints directly feeding into the EU’s simplification and deregulation efforts. Hundreds of such meetings have occurred on sensitive topics like online privacy, defence, and artificial intelligence, sometimes exclusively with businesses and corporate lobbyists.
Within the Critical Chemicals Alliance itself, industry representatives largely control the steering board, including the prominent European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). Furthermore, these industry bodies hold the chair or vice-chair positions in three of the alliance’s four working groups, which are tasked with drafting policies affecting over 450 million EU citizens. Meanwhile, chemical contamination of our environment, soils and waters is entirely absent from the alliance’s agenda.
A striking example is the first working group, responsible for determining the “criticality” of chemicals. Of its 20 members, 13 are representatives from large chemical companies or sector trade unions, a number sufficient to sway any vote in their favour. Over recent months, chemical giants such as BASF, INEOS, TotalEnergies, Evonik, and Syensqo have been testing whether their products, including known carcinogen benzene and hydrofluoric acid (a precursor to ‘forever chemical’ PFAS), should be classified as ‘critical molecules’ eligible for public investment and support.
Unsurprisingly, a sample of 70 molecules run through an industry-designed methodology found that approximately two-thirds qualified as ‘critical,’ according to the EEB.
To prevent all pollutants from automatically qualifying, the report’s authors advocate for a redefinition of ‘criticality’ based on essential societal needs rather than purely economic ones. They also call for any public funding to be tied to strict conditions for detoxification.
In a letter to be released later on Thursday, Corporate Europe Observatory and 30 other civil society organisations are formally urging the European Commission to either heavily reform the alliance’s operations or shut it down completely.
