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🚨 EUROPE IS BEING TAKEN

Alberto Vela

Dear reader,

This isn’t a sensationalist New Leaf edition. It’s an honest truth we need to share with you. 

Because what’s happening in Brussels today isn’t just policy-making – it’s evolving into a full-scale assault on Europe’s environmental and social foundations. And it’s not just coming from the far-right influence, or even the usual political brawlers. No, it’s corporate lobbyists exploiting a moment of disunion and weak leadership to rewrite the rules for their own gain. 

Mayday! The laws that took years to build (rules that keep our air clean, water safe, nature thriving, and life expectancy among the highest in the world) are being dismantled. Not streamlined. Not simplified. Dismantled. And not for the public good, but for a handful of corporations that those rules were supposed to regulate. 

We have spent months shocked by the “DOGEisation” of US administration, but let’s be honest: Europe is sliding down the same path. The worst polluters, billionaire interests, and foreign powers are quietly taking over. Shareholders will toast this deregulatory spree over expensive champagne this Christmas. 

But we are not bystanders. We are the resistance! 

At the EEB, we have spent decades defending a transformative agenda that made the EU a global rule-maker: setting standards worldwide, protecting citizens from corporate or government abuse, and driving the green transition. We are not about to step back now. 

In this edition of New Leaf, we unpack what’s at stake – not in abstract policy terms, but in the values that shape our daily lives. This is a defining moment for anyone who believes in the European project and the EU’s role as guardian of our welfare, our democracy, and the rights we too often take for granted. 

💥 It’s time to mobilise. Here’s what you can do – right now.

💗 NiNoNiiNoooNiiiiNooo, calling on all hot people who care about the planet! 💗 

Before we let you get on with your reading, an important announcement from our editorial team: 

For two years now, every week, we have brought you the freshest updates and takes on European environmental policy, completely for free. We do it because an informed community is powerful. But now we need your help. From dirty lobbies, smear campaigns and billionaire bullies, we are facing a lot. The winter break is around the corner, and we have just one wish in our letter to Santa: to keep fighting for what we love. Help us make it happen by becoming an EEB supporter. 


🚫 NOT TO DEREGULATE EUROPE       

Commission vs Commission – Behind the deregulatory wave, you might expect the usual suspects: the far-right, greedy lobbies, or obstinate Member States. But, as the dust starts to settle following the omnibus starting gun, the EU Commission emerges as the driving force. Von der Leyen II is dismantling, in mere weeks, the rules von der Leyen I spent years building. Freshly adopted laws are being gutted before they even take effect. For a Union built on predictability and science-based legal frameworks, this is chaos. 

Self-inflicted instability – What was recently presented as a long-term policy framework is being rewritten overnight. What’s the message being sent by the Berlaymont? Investors hesitate in uncertainty. Policymakers don’t know what to implement. Businesses don’t know which standards to follow. 

Not the way – The process is not just alarming, it’s outright unreasonable. Omnibus packages, those legislative bundles that lump unrelated files together, rush sweeping changes through with minimal scrutiny. No proper consultations. No impact assessments. No transparency. The European Ombudswoman has confirmed it: maladministration. If this happened in a Member State, Brussels would call it out. 

Not the content – And what’s inside these packages is deeply disconcerting. Omnibus I weakened due diligence and reporting rules critical for fair competition and sustainability. Omnibus II, the environmental omnibus, goes even further: targeting the laws that keep our water clean, air breathable, soils healthy, and food safe. It dismantles the safeguards Europeans rely on every day. 

An assault on life itself – Environmental laws are not “red tape.” They save lives, protect nature, and underpin long-term economic stability. The Commission should guard these rules that make Europe a global leader in environmental and social standards. Instead, this internal strike erodes the EU project from within. 

Fire in the house – A split is also growing within the Commission. Just yesterday, the EC Vice President Teresa Ribera publicly blasted the red-tape bonfire as a “terrible political spectacle” that fuels uncertainty for businesses and destabilises EU institutions. The house is burning, and people inside are shouting too. 

D-month to speak up – December is critical. The environmental omnibus bill is now delayed until 10 December, and several industry-driven announcements could drop, from CBAM revisions to the internal combustion vehicle ban. Unease is brewing both inside and outside the Berlaymont. Pressure must be kept up so the Commission remembers its duty: guided by science, resistant to lobbyists, and a true defender of citizens’ rights. And if it doesn’t, we’ll remind it – LOUDLY. 

🪤 A CAPTURED AGENDA         

Who’s behind it? Someone must be, as otherwise none of this makes sense. Officially, the EU is trimming “red tape,” rescuing “struggling” industries, and boosting “competitiveness.” But in reality, a mix of US fossil giants and Europe’s wealthiest incumbents seems to be orchestrating Brussels like a symphony. 

The baddies: Chevron, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies & co. – Leaked documents reveal a secret alliance of eleven multinational giants, calling themselves the Competitiveness Roundtable, working to tear down the EU’s flagship human rights and climate law via Omnibus I. This mostly US-based coalition has targeted all EU institutions, European governments, and even the Trump administration to serve its own agenda. 

Europe’s wealthy laggards – Are Europe’s big industry players really in danger from green rules? The chemicals sector is sitting on record profits while complaining about high energy prices and Chinese competition. Yet letting them pollute more won’t solve either problem. European carmakers have hoarded over €200 billion, barely invested in their own green transition, and are now being rewarded with subsidies and watered-down CO₂ rules. And still, many of them want to delay the shift to electric while China races ahead.

 Rule-maker or rule-taker? Deregulation isn’t about speed or strength. It’s about a handful of sectors unravelling the very rules that made Europe a global rule-maker. As Commission VP Teresa Ribera recently wrote, Europe’s power comes from setting the bar high, not bending to whoever shouts loudest, whether domestic lobbies or foreign interests. Weakening regulation doesn’t make us competitive; it makes us vulnerable and dependent. 

🫧🪖 IN THE EU BUBBLE      

Militarisation in disguise – The Commission’s new ReSourceEU package risks turning mineral policy into a defence shopping list. Instead of stronger safeguards or accountability, it pushes stockpiling, joint procurement and Buy European rules that serve military priorities, not communities or the climate. When “speed” becomes “security,” rights are the first casualty. 

Water protections on the chopping block – Extractive industries are lobbying for “flexibility” to dodge clean-water rules – and ReSourceEU is listening. Mining contamination, altered waterways and long-term damage are well-documented, yet Europe seems willing to trade freshwater protections for short-term industrial gain. 

Wrong race, wrong risks – Brussels says ReSourceEU will secure supply, but global rivals are investing billions while the EU’s “strategic partnerships” deliver little and raise human-rights concerns. Stockpiling without due diligence just fills warehouses with minerals of unknown origin. Spoiler: defence wins, renewables lose. Real security comes from safeguards, transparency and using fewer materials, not a militarised scramble.  

⚔ FIGHITING THE GOOD FIGHT ️       

🍃 Clean air needs a second wind – At the UN Clean Air Forum in Bonn, EEB’s Patrick ten Brink urged the EU not to stall. The NECD review shows wins: pollution finally decoupling from growth and health benefits outpacing costs up to 13:1. But without post-2030 targets, ambition risks drifting away from science. Europe needs a clear, binding pathway or it faces a clean-air dead end. Still unconvinced? See New Delhi’s “smog economy.” 

⛏️ UNEA-7: minerals showdown – Colombia’s draft has grown from targeting illegal gold to a full life-cycle push for global extraction rules. But weak consultations, industry pressure and shaky political support threaten to hollow it out. With the US resisting and the EU hesitating, civil society must defend binding standards and community-centred governance. This could be the first real global framework — or another voluntary mirage. EEB’s Patrizia Heidegger will be on the ground. 

🥕 Europe demands better, fairer food – With 100,000+ responses to the EU’s animal-welfare consultation, one thing is obvious: people want a better food system. Brussels events this week highlighted how animal welfare, health and environmental protection are all one fight. Meanwhile, in Copenhagen, the BEACON conference showed cities are ready to lead on healthier, fairer diets. Europe has the momentum; now it needs the political will. 

☢️ Mini-nukes? No thanks – With Nuclear Transparency Watch, the EEB warns that Sall Modular Reactors are a costly detour. Designs are untested, safety and waste risks are higher, regulatory shortcuts are looming, and Europe would remain dependent on imported fuels. They also rely on heavy public subsidies, while cheaper, faster renewables and efficiency are ready to scale. Europe needs a transparent, science-led energy strategy, not one shaped behind closed doors by a nuclear industry selling fantasies. 

🌱 Dig it – World Soil Day – We celebrate soils this year at a meaningful moment: just days before the first EU soil law comes into force. Adopted in October, the Soil Monitoring Law is a milestone for healthier soils. Success depends on translating law into action on the ground. Need a refresher on why soils matter? Check out Four things you need to know about soil health. 

🧠✨ DOPAMINE HIT

As ever, here are a few happy updates to get your weekend off to a perky start: 

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By: Alberto Vela. Special thanks to the EEB’s editorial team: Roi Gomez, Ben Snelson and Ruby Silk. Editor: Christian Skrivervik.

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