Les lobbies font-ils la loi au Parlement européen ?

Between September 1 and December 18, 2025, the European Parliament recorded 22,158 lobbyist entries, with private interests accounting for 59% of these visits. The report highlights a disproportionate presence of US-based lobbyists and fossil fuel interests, who were present 87.5% of the time during the studied period. This influence was particularly concentrated around the negotiation of the Omnibus I law, which modified the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The analysis reveals that fossil fuel lobbyists often entered the Parliament without declared appointments to engage in informal interactions. A case study of ExxonMobil demonstrates a complex lobbying chain involving direct visits, professional consultancies, and trade associations, totaling over 650 entries in four months to push for the removal of climate transition plans.

• Private interests dominated access to the European Parliament, representing 59% of all entries (13,058 visits) compared to 28% (6,207 visits) for NGOs. This group is primarily composed of professional, commercial, and industrial groups (23.5%), companies and groups (21.8%), and specialized consultancy firms (13.6%).
• US interests maintained a near-constant presence in the European Parliament, with lobbyists from the United States present on 95% of the 80 open days between September 1 and December 18, 2025. Four of the ten most frequent companies were American, though some used strategic domiciles in Belgium or Ireland.
• Consultancy firms act as a critical mechanism for US influence; among the 50 most frequent consultancy firms, 40 are directly funded by US-based actors, including all of the top 10.
• The fossil fuel industry exhibited a massive presence, with representatives present 87.5% of the time (only 10 days without a representative). 27 identified fossil fuel actors—including oil and gas producers, trade associations, and infrastructure specialists—made 468 entries.
• A significant portion of lobbying occurs informally without declared appointments. For example, the trade association FuelsEurope entered the Parliament 61 times over 25 days but had only 21 declared appointments, meaning it was present for 8 days without any official meeting.
• ExxonMobil utilized a multi-layered strategy combining direct lobbying (40 visits), indirect lobbying via consultancies (250 visits), and trade associations (367 visits), totaling over 650 entries in four months. The company spent between €4M and €4.5M on these activities in 2025 to influence the Omnibus I law.
• Lobbyist activity peaked during critical decision-making windows for the Omnibus I law. On November 4, the Parliament saw its third-highest daily volume of lobbyists, including at least 28 representatives from the fossil fuel sector (producers, associations, and consultancies like NOVE and FTI Consulting) while amendments to remove climate transition plans were being discussed.

APA

Reclaim Finance (2026). Les lobbies font-ils la loi au Parlement européen ? https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Reclaim-Finance-Les-lobbies-font-ils-la-loi-au-Parlement-europeen.pdf

Chicago

Reclaim Finance. Les lobbies font-ils la loi au Parlement européen ? 2026. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Reclaim-Finance-Les-lobbies-font-ils-la-loi-au-Parlement-europeen.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Reclaim Finance |title=Les lobbies font-ils la loi au Parlement européen ? |date=March 2026 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Reclaim-Finance-Les-lobbies-font-ils-la-loi-au-Parlement-europeen.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{reclaimfinance2026les, author = {{Reclaim Finance}}, title = {{Les lobbies font-ils la loi au Parlement européen ?}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Reclaim-Finance-Les-lobbies-font-ils-la-loi-au-Parlement-europeen.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }