Chemical industry and the environment: responsibility versus “voluntary action”

CEFIC (European chemical industry federation) was founded in 1972 en consists of a network of big and smaller corporations, national chemistry federations and lobby organisations. The objective of the group is “ […] to be a reliable representative of the chemical industry and offer our members the services they need, maximise their benefits and in doing so, reduce their costs.” The members of CEFIC are responsible for about 30% of the world-wide production of chemicals and for a number of current environmental problems as well.
For during  the production, as well as in use, and on disposal synthetic chemicals can release damaging substances which today are ubiquitous in in water, food, the earth and in living organisms. In addition, the chemical industry is extremely energy intensive. In this way, the sector contributes to climate change.

The chemical industry forms an important part of environmental problems, on top of that, she tries through her lobby organisation CEFIC to block an effective European environmental policy. In order to do that, the organisation tries to spread a positive image of the chemical industry. “Chemistry makes a world of difference” is not the company’s slogan by coincidence. CEFIC feels they “play an important role to make the world a better place”. In other words, the chemical industry poses as part of the solution, in stead of being the problem. Voluntary action of the industry would be more effective than restrictive policy, CEFIC argues. Two projects that have to support that active image are “Responsible Care” and the “Voluntary Energy Efficiency Programme”. The “Responsible Care” program is designed to promote and stimulate voluntary initiatives of the chemical industry in the fields of health, safety and the environment. The “Voluntary Energy Efficiency Programme” (VEEP), is supposed to form the answer to the Kyoto-protocol, with which the chemical industry binds itself to a 20% improvement of energy efficiency by 2005. 
The projects get full attention on the website of CEFIC. The concrete results, however, are nowhere to be found, while CEFIC uses these programs to pressure governments to stop new policy, binding rules and control mechanisms. For example the VEEP has as a condition that no new energy taxes will be put in place. CEFIC also opposes the implementation of CO2-tax although 9 out of 15 member states have already implemented such a tax. For CEFIC the Kyoto protocol can only take place if it doesn’t obstruct the competitiveness and opportunities for growth of the current chemical industry. But if CEFIC wants to pursue the interests of the chemical industry no matter what, voluntary action will never provide a solution! Small reductions in pollution will become insignificant because of a general increase of productivity.
CEFIC´s efforts to position the chemical industry as part of the solution are accompanied by close contacts with both the European Commission and the European Parliament. This combination proves to be quite successful. Cefic played an important role in the establishing of the European chemical policy. Old regulation was full of holes and lacunas. The recent vote in the European Parliament again showed the power of the short term interests of the chemical industry: Parliament members voted to further weaken controls of dangerous chemicals proposed by the commission!
      

Europe incorporated

The coalition of activists chooses CEFIC not only as their target because it is opposing an effective European environmental policy. The organisation was picked as a target because it symbolises the disproportional impact of big corporations in designing the present form of the European Union and the current form of globalisation. The initiative, the goals and the form of present day European Union have not been decided by the population, but by big economic interests. Most clear example is the achievements of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), in which some CEFIC members are also active, like Bayer, British Petroleum and Solvay. Almost al of the points proposed by the ERT in the late eighties were implemented one by one or are in the process of being implemented: the single market, deregulations and privatisations, benchmarking and the expansion of the European infrastructure, so-called Trans European Networks (TEN). The biggest part of these 12000 km of new highways (planned for 2002), although very controversial and widely opposed, have already been realised. 
The activist coalition realises that companies are not the only ones to lobby. Trade Unions and NGO´s also try to influence politics. But, the balance of power in this field is very uneven: commercial interests have far more financial means to spend on lobbying and marketing. At every important summit, be it EU, Kyoto or WTO, thousands of lobbyists are present to press their interests. Intensive and privileged contacts with the policy makers do the rest of the work.
Europe, breeding ground of democracy? The activists think the current European politics are more the result of an unhealthy mix of corporate interests and politics, resulting in social marginalisation and a further breakdown of our natural environment.

Why an occupation?

The anticapitalist environmental movement is one of the driving forces in the broad movement against capitalist globalisation. She aspires to build a planet-wide society based on environmental and social justice. We feel that this is impossible within the current context, which is based on profit-maximalisation and economic growth and which allows for transnational corporations to wield ever increasing power through their efficient lobby and privileged contacts.

As opposed to the actions in Prague and Genoa, in which some of the occupants of this action took part, we are not focussing on the conference centre or the ‘red zone’. The fixation on the so thought centre of decision making has led to heads of state literally fencing themselves off from concerned citizens with riot police, clouds of tear gas and even gunfire. Hiding themselves in their fortress further diminishes their legitimacy. Although this focus has previously been an important stimulus for the movement against capitalist globalisation, it has lost it’s surprise effect and ends in a warzone. But this does not mean that we feel our anger can be expressed in a traditional legal demonstration where the route has been determined on forehand, nor does it allow for effective change.
An important critique that anticapitalists, who earlier tried to stop different summits, is that the agenda is very much aligned with the desires of transnationals in stead of common people or nature. The European capital is a nest for headquarters of these corporations and their lobbygroups. With the credo “We don’t need to go to Laken, the real decisions are made elsewhere anyway!”, we are using nonviolent direct action to shut down maybe not the official, but a very important informal European centre of power for the day.


The participants of this action

Activist occupying CEFIC are mainly Dutch and Belgian but some are Spanish, Italian, German or Greek.

Wildgroei is a Belgian direct action group that has opposed various infrastructure projects, such as the closing of the Antwerp Ring Road. (vredesactie.ngonet.be/wildgroei [Dutch])
The Environment Workinggroup of JNM is campaigner for climate justice, organic agriculture and against genetic engineering. (info@jnm.be)
A SEED is Action for Solidarity, Equality and Ecological Development, a grassroots network aiming at the fundamental causes of the ecological and social crisis. (www.aseed.net [English])
Green Front, EarthFirst! Netherlands is a convenient banner for uncompromising ecologists, and well known in the Netherlands for opposing the Betuwelijn, the most important European cargo-line under construction from Rotterdam to the Ruhr-area. (www.groenfront.nl [English/Dutch])
Ecological Projectcentre The Wasp is a radical environmental collective in Leuven (wesp@groenfront.nl). 

In sync with this action we are publishing a brochure on Cefic, the European industrial lobby, and more backgrounds behind this action. It is online at www.aseed.net/cefic-action