Big EU lobby groups exaggerated industry support for attack on carbon price

BRUSSELS — An industry petition criticizing the European Union’s core climate policy implied its demands were supported by some 1,350 companies and associations. Now some firms deny they signed up.

Last month, a number of EU leaders — including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron — joined hundreds of industry representatives for a get-together in Antwerp. 

There, they were presented with a letter that demanded, among other things, lower “carbon costs” — a call widely interpreted as asking for a weaker price signal under the Emissions Trading System, the bloc’s main tool for reducing planet-warming emissions. 

Merz jumped on the demands to suggest he was open to weakening the policy, comments he later rowed back on but not before they crashed the carbon price. Ever since, attacks on the ETS, which obliges factories to pay for their pollution, have escalated, with Italy recently calling for a suspension pending an upcoming reform. 

The letterhead on top of the petition, which asked the EU to “bring energy and carbon costs down,” read: “Presented to EU leaders at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp on 11 February 2026 on behalf of the signatories of the Antwerp Declaration.”

The 2024 Antwerp Declaration, which called for a European “Industrial Deal” and did not mention carbon costs, was backed by nearly 1,350 signatories, including more than 900 companies ranging from steel giant ArcelorMittal to fertilizer producer Yara. 

An emailed press release linking to the petition similarly stated that “the Antwerp Declaration Community — representing more than 1,300 companies, associations and trade unions across Europe — called on EU Heads of State and Government to take urgent and bold action.” 

But some of those companies now say they didn’t support the missive — and even the organizers admitted to POLITICO that they do not know the actual number of backers for this year’s petition, dubbed the Antwerp Call to Alden-Biesen in reference to the Belgian chateau where EU leaders met the day after the industry summit. 

The findings throw a spotlight on a lobbying practice starting to spread through Europe: Letters demanding controversial policy changes in the name of companies loosely associated with the organizers to boost their influence. 

Last October, two CEOs demanded the EU scrap or weaken key environmental laws while claiming to speak on behalf of 46 companies, some of which later distanced themselves. 

The European chemicals lobby association Cefic, which organizes the annual Antwerp summits, did not directly respond to a question asking whether describing the letter as sent “on behalf of” the original signatories was misleading. 

A spokesperson insisted all signatories of the 2024 declaration were invited to give input into this year’s petition and that the text was shown to companies that joined consultation calls ahead of the summit. 

But Cefic acknowledged that there was no specific number of backers. “As the text builds on the existing Antwerp Declaration, signatories were not asked [to] sign, and no additional signatory list was created,” the spokesperson said, adding: “The Call was a political reminder, not a new Antwerp Declaration, as the text itself specifically states.” 

Defending the ETS

The discrepancies in support for the Antwerp Call were first noticed by NGO Finnwatch, which checked with Finnish companies that signed the 2024 declaration. Of the seven that responded, three distanced themselves from the call for slashing the carbon price.

Finnwatch also writes that after it published a blogpost with the companies’ responses, the summit website’s Antwerp Call page started returning an error, and a different PDF deleting the “on behalf of” language was uploaded. 

The new document only lists 16 industry lobby groups as backers for this year’s call. Cefic acknowledged that the website had been “updated.”

POLITICO this week contacted 20 companies listed as signatories of the 2024 declaration. Of the 12 that responded, seven said they did not support this year’s petition. 

Among the companies that distanced themselves were French energy major EDF, Norwegian aluminum and energy company Norsk Hydro, fertilizer giant Yara, and Holcim, one of the world’s largest cement producers. 

Holcim supported the original declaration but said that it was “not involved in the Alden-Biesen call for action.” A spokesperson said that “Holcim remains steadfast in its commitment to decarbonization” and that it welcomed “long-term predictability” in EU policy, including a “stable” carbon price.

Norsk Hydro said it did not even participate in this year’s Antwerp summit, adding: “Hydro supports the EU ETS, but the system needs reform.” 

EDF said it supported “the continuity” of the ETS. A spokesperson wrote: “To our knowledge the final Antwerp statement was not shared with past signatories before the day of the event, so it was not possible to assess its content beforehand.” 

Swedish mining company LKAB also said that “there was no signing process” for the petition, adding that the company does “not support an ask [to] ‘bring carbon cost down’ — energy prices yes, but carbon costs no.” 

Defending the petition

Similarly, Yara “does not call for lower carbon prices,” the company’s vice president for European government relations, Tiffanie Stephani, said in an email. “Carbon prices provide the most suitable market signal to drive decarbonization of production and products.” 

But, she added, “carbon prices and carbon costs are not one and the same… A high carbon cost without enabling conditions to decarbonize, and without demand for the more sustainable products, is destructive to industrial competitiveness.” 

Cefic made a similar argument. “Please note that the text on purpose references the impact of carbon costs, not on the ETS as a tool, nor on the carbon price itself,” the association’s spokesperson said. 

The companies that told POLITICO they supported this year’s call were paper manufacturer Sappi and Belgian oil and gas infrastructure provider Fluxys, as well as two Cefic members: chemicals giants Bayer and Solvay. 

Steel giant ArcelorMittal also said they did support this year’s call as a whole, but that they weren’t asking for a lower carbon price. 

Solvay insisted it was in favor of “long‑term clarity and predictability” of the ETS, adding: “European industry currently faces significantly higher energy and carbon‑related costs than global competitors operating under less stringent frameworks. Our support for the call should be read in that context: It is not about reducing ambition, but about ensuring Europe can deliver both decarbonization and industrial resilience.” 

Cefic said that the petition presented to EU leaders last month “reflects the many opinions” heard in consultation calls. 

At an EU leaders’ meeting on March 19-20, energy costs and carbon pricing are once again on the agenda, draft conclusions show.