BMW ran ads with models wearing “THERE IS NO PLANET B” shirts to cover up its private work against the rules meant to save the planet.
This move shows how companies use flashy marketing to protect their old ways of doing business. Between September 2024 and June 2025, six German car organisations met with EU officials more than 90 times.
In these meetings, giants like BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz joined the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) to weaken the laws that threaten their sales.
Buying Influence
The industry gets what it wants by using a lot of money and close friends in politics. German manufacturers spent more than €10 million a year on EU lobbying through powerful groups like the VDA.
German companies controlled most of the sector’s lobbying budget in Brussels. Volkswagen alone hired 43 lobbyists to influence policy.
This system works because of the tight link between politics and business. Matthias Wissmann moving from the federal government to lead the VDA’s lobbying team shows exactly how this works. Even the German chancellor has reportedly intervened globally to protect car companies from pollution rules.
These efforts pay off. BMW scored a “D” grade on its climate policy between 2019 and 2021. The industry claimed to support new ideas, but they blocked rules that would force them to make electric cars.
Political Friends in Berlin
The Free Democratic Party (FDP) turned itself into a direct voice for car makers inside the government.
The FDP used its power to win favours for the auto industry. They pushed to delay the EU ban on gas engines and pressured the administration to lower emissions goals.
This partnership forced Germany to abstain from voting on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive in February 2024. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann even sent secret letters to other EU capitals asking them to reject the law.
The Green Party and Social Democrats chose to keep the government stable rather than fight for the law. State Secretary Sven Giegold admitted Berlin was “forced to abstain.” This proved that party politics matter more to them than European laws.
Watering Down the Rules
Lobbying has cut the strength of important rules.
Corporate Responsibility
A huge lobbying campaign happened around the time of Germany’s abstention. Over four years, 88 companies pressured Brussels to limit the law so it covers only 6,000 companies. Big business groups fought the bill the whole time.
Engines and Emissions
Manufacturers secured weaker Euro 7 standards and an “e-fuel” loophole by using the German government’s power to say “no.” This deal, which Porsche and BMW lobbied for, lets them sell gas engines past the date they were supposed to be banned.
Future Targets
VDA President Hildegard Müller has kept up her fight against the 2035 phase-out. After car makers asked for easier rules, the Commission changed the 2025 targets to allow companies to average their emissions over three years.
Money Over Nature
Europe’s climate plans depend on whether car makers can make money while following the rules. German companies have shown they will break any law that hurts their profits.
Profit often decides which green laws survive. Kenneth Haar from Corporate Europe Observatory noted that the EU penalises companies that try to do the right thing. Experts in Berlin saw that powerful corporations always come first.
Brussels keeps giving in to industry demands to make sure green goals do not hurt the bottom line.
Keep up with Daily Euro Times for more updates!
Read also:
Linking Up the Grid: Energy Cooperation between Austria and the UAE
Sweden and Finland Champion Bioenergy: New Measures Amid Climate Pressure
Water Wars: American Corporations Buying Up Canada’s Water
