RESPONSIBLE POLICY ENGAGEMENT IN THE EU

The document outlines the Responsible Policy Engagement (RPE) Framework to help EU businesses align their direct and indirect advocacy with climate goals. It warns that legacy fossil fuel interests often dominate trade associations, creating a false impression of business consensus against climate policy. The guide provides a five-step process for companies—commit, engage, align trade orgs, allocate spending, and disclose—and offers specific recommendations for trade associations to be more representative and for EU policymakers to close transparency gaps, particularly within the European Council.

• A significant gap exists between the climate ambitions of many European business leaders and the actual advocacy conducted in their name, often because legacy incumbents dominate vocal trade associations.
• Some leading companies have taken drastic measures to resolve misalignment with industry groups, such as Volvo leaving the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) because the body lobbied against the EU's 2035 phase-out of fossil fuel cars.
• The EU Transparency Register has critical gaps, including disproportionate access for fossil fuel lobbyists and a voluntary registration system for the European Council, which is central to EU decision-making.
• The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires disclosure of political influence under section G1.5, but its effectiveness is limited by double materiality assessments and recent 'Omnibus Simplification Package' changes that raised eligibility thresholds.
• The document recommends that EU policymakers extend mandatory Transparency Register provisions to the European Council and establish harmonized EU-wide standards for lobbying transparency across all Member States to prevent the exploitation of regulatory gaps.

APA

We Mean Business Coalition (2026). RESPONSIBLE POLICY ENGAGEMENT IN THE EU. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/RPE-in-the-EU-Guidance-for-companies-and-policymakers-May-2026-4.pdf

Chicago

We Mean Business Coalition. RESPONSIBLE POLICY ENGAGEMENT IN THE EU. 2026. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/RPE-in-the-EU-Guidance-for-companies-and-policymakers-May-2026-4.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=We Mean Business Coalition |title=RESPONSIBLE POLICY ENGAGEMENT IN THE EU |date=May 2026 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/RPE-in-the-EU-Guidance-for-companies-and-policymakers-May-2026-4.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wemeanbusinesscoalition2026responsible, author = {{We Mean Business Coalition}}, title = {{RESPONSIBLE POLICY ENGAGEMENT IN THE EU}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/RPE-in-the-EU-Guidance-for-companies-and-policymakers-May-2026-4.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }