We have good news from the European Parliament today. Fossil Free Politics just spoke in the Petitions Committee (PETI), supporting a petition that has been open since the previous term.
The petition concerned the fossil fuel industry’s influence over the EU’s response to the energy crisis over the last two years. It’s been quite a complicated process, bouncing around committee rooms and eventually ending up in a public hearing in February 2024, where experts presented evidence to MEPs.
The question for the new members in today’s committee was relatively simple: do you want to keep this petition open?
We presented three times as Fossil Free Politics, giving evidence to the committee before a representative from the European Commission responded. Pascoe Sabido of Corporate Europe Observatory, Frida Kieninger of Food & Water Action Europe, and Nathan Stewart of FFP all took the floor.
Thanks to the efforts of a cross-party group of MEPs, including a dramatic last-minute intervention by Renew’s Michał Kobosko, the vote passed, allowing us to continue this process in this new Parliament term.
This could lead to several positive outcomes, such as introducing a resolution that can be voted on in the European Parliament’s main plenary or obtaining a commitment to introducing a robust conflict of interest framework as called for in last term’s public hearing. These are all steps in the right direction.
Through a combination of tactics, we will keep the issue of fossil fuel lobbying on the agenda here in Brussels and across Europe, until we finally cut fossil fuels out of our politics!