Saturday

30th Sep 2023

Exclusive

Big Oil sponsors Croatia's EU presidency

  • An INA service station in Croatia - one of the sponsors of the current six-month presidency (Photo: INA, d.d.)

The six-month Croatian presidency of the Council of the EU has signed a deal with the country's national oil company INA to supply its fuel.

The part state-owned firm is now designated as the EU council presidency's "official gasoline supplier" - and comes during the launch of the European Commission's European Green Deal, a seminal policy that seeks to cut carbon emissions and fossil fuel consumption across the European Union over the next three decades.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"INA is proud to be official fuel supplier during Croatian's presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020. The company will provide fuel for official vehicles," it said when asked for a comment.

The deal, described as an in-kind contribution, was confirmed to EUobserver by the secretariat of the Croatian Presidency (EU2020HR) whose spokesperson, in an email, also noted it had signed sponsorship deals with six other Croat companies.

"The EU2020HR has so far signed seven sponsorship agreements with exclusively Croatian companies. When we complete the list of sponsors full information will be posted on the EU2020HR website," said the secretariat on Wednesday (15 January).

Popular Croatian food and beverage companies Jana, Franck, and Juicy have also signed in-kind contribution agreements.

Another three, not yet named, are paying contributors. Their money will go towards covering some of the costs of the meetings that the presidency is responsible for organising, according to the secretariat.

Meanwhile, the presidency's gasoline supplier INA describes itself as a medium-sized European oil company with regional influence when it comes to oil and gas exploration, production, oil processing and oil distribution. It operates 11 offshore gas fields and has over 1,200 production wells.

INA also has business operations in Angola and Egypt and manages two refineries in the Croatian cities of Rijeka and Sisak.

In a company profile report from 2018, the president of its management board is cited as saying their "main goal is to ensure long-term sustainability of all our businesses and maintain our integrated business model."

It is a model that likely may be at odds with a growing global backlash against the fossil industry as climate change movements continue to pile on the pressure for national governments to act more swiftly on carbon emissions.

It also comes ahead the recent launch of the commission's European Green deal to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050, a policy described by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as EU's 'man-on-moon moment'.

Reputational risks

Gong, a Zagreb-civil society organisation, has also revealed that over 60 percent of the Croatian presidency's lobby meetings have been with businesses, featuring firms representing big tech, car companies, and the fossil fuel industry.

The sponsorship deals follow similar set ups by the previous rotating presidencies.

Romania's presidency in the first half of last year was sponsored by carmakers Renault and Mercedes, and drinks multinational Coca-Cola. The outgoing Finnish presidency had sponsorship from BMW.

But Germany, which is set to take over the presidency this summer, says it has "waived" sponsorship deals - although it may make exceptions for "regional products" & "regional services".

The apparent ethical conflict with sponsors has cast a long shadow over the six-month rotating EU council presidencies, whose task is to steer EU policy and act as a deal-maker among the 28 member states.

EU Ombsudsman Emily O'Reilly in an emailed statement said the issue poses a problem when it comes to public perception given the reputational risks linked to corporate sponsorship.

"Given the presidency's role, there is a risk that sponsorship could be perceived as giving a sponsor some influence over EU policy and law making," she said, adding that the council needs to issue some guidance to national governments on the presidency sponsorships.

"This could involve the conditions under which sponsorship is appropriate and the branding arrangements linked to any funds received," she added.

Pro-transparency groups like Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels-based NGO, have also been raising the issue for years.

"Corporate sponsorship is now an established part of rotating presidencies," it said in a report out earlier last year.

Finland rejects call to end sponsorship of EU presidency

Appalled over Coca-Cola sponsoring the recent Romanian EU presidency, MEPs have asked Finland, the new holders of the rotating post, to put an end to such practices. But Helsinki, whose presidency is sponsored by BMW, has no such plan.

Commission's €1 trillion bet on green deal financing

The European Commission unveiled on Tuesday its sustainable investment plan to put Europe on track to reach the 2050 emissions-neutrality goal - while helping coal-producing regions to move away from fossil fuels.

Exclusive

Belgium prepares probe into Politico tobacco sponsorship

Tobacco company British American Tobacco sponsored the popular Playbook newsletter this week - saying it is not against the law because the advertisements were not about specific products. Now the Belgian authorities are preparing to investigate.

Portugal's EU presidency marks return of corporate sponsors

Last year's German EU presidency refused corporate sponsorships. But the new Portuguese presidency has decided they are needed and has signed three contracts. One of them is with one of Europe's largest paper companies, The Navigator Company.

Exclusive

Italian energy giant director advising EU foreign policy chief

Italian multinational oil and gas company ENI has a board member advising the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. The European Commission appears to have been kept in the dark over the affair until NGOs starting asking questions.

EU to keep corporate sponsorship of presidencies

The chief administrators of the Council, representing member states, have issued draft guidelines on corporate sponsorships of EU presidencies. The guidelines do not ban sponsorships - despite the risks they pose to the EU's reputation as a whole.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Column

Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?

International media must make clear that these are not fair, democratic elections. The flawed race should be the story at least as much as the race itself.

Latest News

  1. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  2. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  3. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  4. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  5. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials
  6. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  7. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  8. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us