A cross-party group of MEPs has urged the European Commission to stop excluding environmental organisations from policymaking, following complaints that key green groups were denied access to officials and consultation meetings.
In a letter to the Commission on Thursday, seven lawmakers from the Renew, EPP, S&D and Green groups said civil society participation is being curtailed just as Brussels reviews rules on nitrate pollution, water quality and nature protection.
“Millions of Europeans back groups that defend nature and health,” said Renew’s Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy. “It’s incomprehensible that the Commission now chooses to ignore them.”
While some small NGOs were invited to recent discussions chaired by Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall, major Brussels-based organisations — including Greenpeace, WWF and the European Environmental Bureau — were left out.
The MEPs called on the Commission to clarify how it selects participants for such stakeholder dialogues, part of its broader drive to “simplify” business regulation — which campaigners warn risks weakening environmental standards.
EEB director Faustine Bas-Defossez said her network and others were being squeezed out: “Violating basic principles of inclusivity, transparency and accountability is becoming business as usual,” she told Euractiv.
via Euractiv.com
