Fossil fuel giants given ‘unprecedented access to EU leaders’ during Ukraine war

Jump to contentSign up to our newslettersSubscribeNewsSportsVoicesCultureLifestyleTravelPremiumNewsWorldEuropeAndy GregorySunday 30 October 2022 00:45CommentsA pumping station at the end of the Druzhba oil pipeline in the east German refinery PCK in SchwedtOil and gas giants have enjoyed ‘unprecedented’ access to European leaders while raking in record profits since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, campaigners have warned.Lobbying watchdogs allege in a new report that fossil fuel firms have successfully used this ‘privileged access’ and capitalised on divisions among member states in order to ‘delay and minimise any genuine political intervention’ to keep soaring energy costs in check.Energy giants have also ‘used the crisis to their own advantage by forcing’ the European Union into more infrastructure investments, locking consumers into ‘a spiral of skyrocketing energy prices, fossil fuel addiction and climate disaster’, the groups claim.Four European fossil fuel majors – Shell, TotalEnergies, Eni and Repsol – have enjoyed a total of 113 meetings with EU’s executive body this year, according to the report by the Corporate Europe Observatory, France’s l’Observatoire des Multinationales and Italy’s Recommon.At the same time, those same firms have seen record profits – totalling €78bn – in the first nine months of the year, equating to €395 for every single European household, campaigners said.The European Commission has announced a ‘windfall tax’ on the profits of oil and gas firms to help consumers shoulder the cost of soaring prices, in what it has labelled a ‘solidarity contribution’ of 33 per cent of their taxable surplus profits from the fiscal year 2022 – a sum it said could raise €140bn.But the watchdogs warned that ‘the devil is in the detail’, adding that member states have been given a lot of flexibility in how to apply the rules and what will form the basis for taxation, making it hard to assess how much the move will yield.They pointed to French finance ministry figures suggesting the French version could only yield around €200m, and domestic resistance to Italy’s windfall tax, as they claimed: ‘It is hard to see this as anything else than a purely symbolic measure, designed to end the public debate on the taxation of super-profits.’Oil and gas prices have soared as Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine exacerbated Covid supply issues, sparking fears of shortages in Europe this winter as the taps are turned off in Moscow. However, boosted by mild temperatures and gas storage tanks topping 90 per cent capacity, prices dropped to their lowest since mid-June this week, with Dutch TTF gas futures – the benchmark European contract – briefly falling as low as €93.35 per megawatt-hour (MWh).Part of the EU’s plan to reduce reliance on Russian fossil fuels saw the bloc create a new regulation setting mandatory minimum level of gas in storage facilities to 80 per cent by 1 November – with operators and member states urged to strive for 85 per cent.Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen has met with fossil fuel chief executives while formulating the EU’s energy response to the Ukraine crisis, with minutes showing she was advised on which measures were ‘feasible’ and warned that ‘fiddling with market mechanisms would have ‘unintended consequences’.Cadets of the Sikh Regimental Center perform Gatka martial stunts during a combined display ahead of a graduation ceremony at the Officers Training Academy, in ChennaAFP/GettyFirefighters work to extinguish fire following recent shelling at an oil storage in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Shakhtarsk (Shakhtyorsk) near Donetsk, Russian-controlled UkraineReutersA camel herder leads his camels at the Pushkar Camel Fair, in the western state of RajasthanAFP/GettyA partial solar eclipse seen from Budapest, HungaryAPA woman lights earthen lamps on the occasion of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, at her house in GuwahatiAFP/GettyAutumn colored trees stand around trees destroyed by the bark beetle and drought near Schierke, GermanyAPUkrainian soldiers fire on Russian positions with a mortar in Bakhmut, Donetsk regionAPClimate activists from Extinction Rebellion hold a placard as they protest at the Africa Energy Week conference, foreground, in Cape Town, South AfricaAPSoldiers of the Swiss special forces command perfom, suspended from an helicopter, during the annual live fire event over the Axalp in the Bernese OberlandAFP/GettyHigh school students demonstrate in Marseille, southern France, after a rare vocational inter-union alliance called for a one-day strike to denounce the reform of the vocational route, launched by France’s President during his presidential campaign, and in particular the plan increasing the time spent on training courses by at least 50 percent, which would reduce the hours of general education.AFP/GettyChildren exercise on the banks of the Yamuna River near the Taj Mahal in Agra at sunriseAFP/GettyA street with damaged cars and debris that were dragged by floods, in the aftermath of a flood in Aghia Pelagia, Heraklion, Crete island, GreeceEPAA lone flipper sits on a dried boat dock sitting at the bottom of the Stuart Fork arm of Trinity Lake during an ongoing drought in Trinity Center, CaliforniaAFP/GettyDevotees react as a priest displays a relic believed to be a hair from the beard of Prophet Muhammad on the last friday of Eid Milad-un-Nabi, which marks the birth anniversary of the Prophet, at the Hazratbal Shrine in SrinagarAFP/GettyA performer pretends to conduct scientific investigations on a hyperrealist life-size sculpture depicting an aground sperm whale as part of a pro-environmental awareness art installation by ‘Captain Boomer’ -a collective of Belgian artists- on the banks of the Garonne river on the sideline of the Art festival in Bordeaux, southwestern FranceAFP/GettyA pedestrian walks past a billboard displaying a Russian soldier with a slogan reading ‘Glory to the Heroes of Russia’ decorating a bus stop in central MoscowAFP/GettyWorkers from TotalEnergies and Esso ExxonMobil release colored smoke bomb during a protest called by CGT union outside TotalEnergies refinery in La Mede, Chateau Neuf les Martigues, FranceEPAPeople react outside a partially destroyed multistorey office building after several Russian strikes hit the Ukrainian capital of KyivAFP/GettyModels present creations by Italy’s iconic fashion house Stefano Ricci at 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which ‘sins are cast into the water to the fish’, ahead of the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the most important day in the Jewish calendarAFP/GettySupporters of Brazilian former President, and candidate for the Workers Party, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva react as they watch the vote count of the legislative and presidential election, in BrasiliaAFP/GettyAC Milan’s Charles De Ketelaere, left, collides with Empoli’s Koni de Winter and Alberto Grassi, right during their Serie A football match at the Carlo-Castellani stadiumAFP/GettyFrom left, Moscow-appointed head of Kherson Region Vladimir Saldo, Moscow-appointed head of Zaporizhzhia region Yevgeny Balitsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, Denis Pushilin, leader of self-proclaimed of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Leonid Pasechnik, leader of self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic pose for a photo during a ceremony to sign the treaties for four regions of Ukraine to join Russia, at the Kremlin in MoscowAPA man walks through debris on a street in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Punta Gorda, FloridaAFP/GettyFinland closes motorway so F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet pilots can practice landings in Joutsa, FinlandReutersThis handout picture released on September 27, 2022 by the Danish Defence Command shows the gas leak at the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as it is seen from the Danish Defence’s F-16 rejection response off the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm, south of DueoddeDANISH DEFENCE/AFP/GettyRussian policemen and emergency services members work near the scene of a school shooting at school 88 in Izhevsk, RussiaEPAThe damage caused by Hurricane Fiona in Fox Roost-Margaree, Newfoundland and Labrador, CanadaSusan Sweet-Skinner/AFP/GettyThis photograph shows an Aeropostale Boeing 737 after it overran the runway during its landing phase at night at Montpellier airportAFP/Getty A workshop owner checks freshly-dyed ‘Kalawa threads’, a traditional sacred orange-yellow thread used in Hindu rituals, ahead of the Navratri festival at Lalgopalganj village, IndiaAFP via Getty ImagesA sunflower is pictured at a sunflower field, near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Yeoncheon, South KoreaReutersNasibe Samsaei, an Iranian woman living in Turkey, reacts after she cut her hair during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini, outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul, TurkeyReutersWomen wearing traditional attire pose for photographs as they practice the Garba, the traditional dance of Gujarat state, ahead of Navratri in Ahmedabad, IndiaAPPeople burn tires outside the headquarters of the United Nations Works and Relief Agency during a protest demanding them to rebuild their houses that were destroyed during the Israel-Gaza fighting in 2014, in Gaza CityReutersTeam Mexico competes in the 3 Ribbons and 2 balls group final event of the 39th FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships at the Arena Armeets in Sofia , BulgariaAFP/GettyA woman eats an apple on a porch by damaged houses in the Ukrainian town of Izium, recently liberated from Russian occupationReutersNewly hatched sea turtles make their way into the sea after leaving a conservation center in Kuta, Bali, IndonesiaEPATiger dancers gesture as they wait to perform during the last day of Onam celebrations in KochiAFP/GettySingapore’s Wie Qi Katelin Heng competes in the individual all-around qualification round during the 39th FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships at the Arena Armeets in Sofia (Arena Armeec hall)AFP/Gettylacier 3000 resort above Les Diablerets shows the Tsanfleuron pass free of the ice that covered it for at least 2,000 years next to blankets covering snow from the last winter season to prevent it from melting. – The thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass between Scex Rouge glacier and Tsanfleuron glacier since at least the Roman era has melted away completely. Following a dry winter, the summer heatwaves hitting Europe have been catastrophic for the Alpine glaciers, which have been melting at an accelerated rateAFP/GettyIcelandic horses play on a meadow at a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, as the sun risesAPPresident Joe Biden participates in a wreath laying ceremony while visiting the Pentagon in WashingtonAPUkrainian flags placed on statues in a square in Balakliya, Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. – Ukrainian forces said on September 10, 2022 they had entered the town of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine, dislodging Russian troops from a key logistics hub in a lightning counter-offensive that has seen swathes of territory recapturedAFP/GettyThe Sydney Opera House is illuminated with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in Sydney, AustraliaAPPicture take photos as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth appears on the screen of the Nasdaq MarketSite billboard, after Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the nation’s figurehead for seven decades, died aged 96, according to Buckingham Palace, in Times Square, in New York, U.S.ReutersDuring that same meeting in March, the Commission agreed to set up its Energy Platform Industry Advisory Group comprised exclusively of Europe’s major gas companies, whose mandate is to effectively co-manage the EU’s move away from Russian gas, according to the Corporate Europe Observatory.The advisory group, which had its first meeting on Wednesday, ‘will provide industry representatives top-level, regular access to the Commission on the development of’ the EU’s plan to end its dependence on Russian gas, including ‘how and where the EU will source new gas’, the campaigners said.The membership of the group, which operates under ‘an obligation of professional secrecy’, includes ‘virtually every significant oil and gas corporation in Europe’ but not a single public interest, consumer or environmental group, according to the lobbying watchdog.The report concludes: ‘The crisis that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine should have been an occasion for a radical change of approach’, such as taking back public control over the energy sector, asserting the basic right to energy over corporate profits, and developing decentralised, renewables-based energy systems throughout Europe.’Instead, the EU has only reduced its dependence on Russian gas by increasing its overall dependence on gas and the gas industry altogether, locking us in a spiral of high energy prices, corporate profiteering, fossil fuel addiction, and climate disaster.’The European Commission has been approached for comment.Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inRegistration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inOilGasFossil FuelEuropean UnionUkraineRussiaUrsula von der LeyenA pumping station at the end of the Druzhba oil pipeline in the east German refinery PCK in SchwedtAP Photo/Sven KaestnerPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in