EU rush to fix energy crisis risks stripping citizens and nature of legal protections

European energy ministers were in Cyprus this week discussing how to reduce dependence on the gas that’s currently stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. On the table was the European Commission’s ‘AccelerateEU ‘ proposal, which aims to fast-track renewable energy projects by “streamlining” permitting rules and hastening the shift away from gas. The renewed push to ditch fossil fuels is long overdue, but thanks to the influence of industry lobby groups, permitting exemptions intended for renewables are

Rather than getting off fossil fuels, these will prolong the continent’s reliance on gas, ensuring households and businesses remain exposed to volatile markets and higher prices. The proposal to “streamline” permitting is part of a widespread industry push – fully embraced by the European Commission – to make it easier for companies to get permits to build new infrastructure, such as mines, data centres, pipelines and wind farms. Justified as making European companies more competitive on the global stage, slashing permitting rules means cutting the hard-won social and environmental protections that are part of them. The new report from Corporate Europe Observatory, “Permission to Pollute”, shows how industry has demanded – and won – the fast-tracking of permitting rules. This means sidelining democratic participation, making it harder for communities to resist gas-guzzling data centres or Indigenous rights-infringing mines. Simpler, quicker environmental assessments mean less protection for our drinking water, endangered wildlife, and at-risk habitats. The EU is handing some of its most climate- and environment-wrecking industries permission to pollute, while people are being cut out of the process. Permitting exemptions for renewable energy first appeared in 2022 with the EU’s plan to phase out Russian gas. New projects were declared of “overriding public interest” and exempted from environmental impact assessments. This language is now in the Grids Package’s proposal on accelerated permitting, which primarily focuses on renewable electricity – but the European Parliament is currently proposing amendments to make its support for gas, hydrogen and CO2 capture, transport and storage explicit. The “overriding public interest” language also appears in other European Commission proposals, like ReSourceEU , which wants to fast-track permitting for mining and “simplify” the EU’s water protection law (read: deregulate). The commission’s Environmental Omnibus, one of ten Omnibus proposals aimed at slashing regulations to make life easier for business, proposes speeding up environmental assessments and restricting access to justice by limiting what arguments can be used in court.

Key points

• Rather than getting off fossil fuels, these will prolong the continent’s reliance on gas, ensuring households and businesses remain exposed to volatile markets and higher prices.
• The proposal to “streamline” permitting is part of a widespread industry push – fully embraced by the European Commission – to make it easier for companies to get permits to build new infrastructur…
• Justified as making European companies more competitive on the global stage, slashing permitting rules means cutting the hard-won social and environmental protections that are part of them.
• The new report from Corporate Europe Observatory, “Permission to Pollute”, shows how industry has demanded – and won – the fast-tracking of permitting rules.
• This means sidelining democratic participation, making it harder for communities to resist gas-guzzling data centres or Indigenous rights-infringing mines.