232 policy initiatives — and counting

The "Commission cannot do what national capitals don't allow" narrative is increasingly dated. The Commission has gone against Paris (Mercosur) and Berlin (chemicals & pollution).

Is the College backing off the Green Deal?

No Commissioner calls for dismantling the framework. But the College splits into four distinct postures — the language has shifted from climate leadership toward competitiveness, simplification, and calibration.

Four postures, 15 Commissioners

The same Commissioner talks differently at different venues

The gap between a Commissioner's score at environmental conferences and at industry events measures the size of that adjustment.

Sold as competitiveness — no longer as a climate response

The first von der Leyen Commission built its case on the climate crisis. This one builds it on competitiveness, resilience, independence. Across all 430 statements:

A policy sold as competitiveness is evaluated against economic outcomes — and becomes harder to defend the moment it imposes costs.

83,000+ stakeholder interactions

Every one of these meetings is mapped to the files and topics discussed — so we can tell you which organisations have embedded themselves with the actors who shape your dossiers.

The 10 most sought-after Commissioners

Ranked by an integrated score that weighs meeting volume, breadth of stakeholder network, and Commissioner-level involvement.

The people behind the Commissioners

A large share of stakeholder access goes through cabinet members — not the Commissioner in person. These are the five individual staffers with the widest stakeholder reach across the College.

Ranked by an integrated score that weighs meeting volume, breadth of stakeholder network, and independent meeting activity.

Arthur Corbin is the most prolific cabinet-level interlocutor of the mandate — 247 meetings and 340 unique stakeholders, wider than most Commissioners.

The 10 most sought-after MEPs

Ranked by an integrated score that weighs meeting volume, breadth of stakeholder network, and staff-level engagement.

EHLER (Competitiveness Fund + FP10) is the file-driven star. TYNKKYNEN leads on raw volume (742 meetings).

Meetings per MEP, by Member State

Finland punches far above its weight. NW European delegations dominate the top; Southern and Eastern delegations engage at a fraction of the rate.

Meetings per MEP, by political group

Mainstream pro-EU groups dominate per-MEP engagement. The nationalist right is much less connected to the stakeholder ecosystem.

Top 10 trade & business associations in MEP outreach

Agenda

Omnibuses adopted by both EP and Council

• Omnibus package on sustainability / reporting requirements adopted EP + Council
• Omnibus on simplifying investment rules adopted EP + Council
• Omnibus on agriculture adopted EP + Council
• … and more.

Omnibuses in motion

• Omnibus on defence in trilogues
• Automotive package including revision of CO₂ targets EP: awaiting committee decision Council: under examination 370+ meetings
• Omnibus on the chemical industry — Classification, Labelling and Packaging of substances, cosmetic products, fertilisers EP to adopt its position: set plenary date for 27/04 Council: position adopted — shortens the phase-out period for cosmetics with CMR substances, removes the exemption based on oral or inhalation exposure, restores nanomaterial notification, and reinstates REACH registration for the most harmful fertiliser substances 106 meetings
• Omnibus on environment EP: awaiting committee decision Council: under examination
• Digital omnibus EP: awaiting committee decision Council: under examination
• Digital omnibus on AI in trilogues 102 meetings

More omnibuses on the way

• A second Chemicals Industry Package 2026
• A Climate package including a revision of national targets in the EU climate policy framework Q4 2026 — Effort Sharing Regulation + LULUCF
• An Omnibus on taxation Q2 2026
• An Omnibus on energy products Q2 2026
• … and more.

Public Procurement framework

Aims to introduce qualitative criteria in public funding (e.g. sustainability, social, European preference).

"Buy European" provisions

Protectionist factions (e.g. French) inside EPP and Renew are active and pushing for European preference quotas.

Post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework

Council aims to adopt by end of 2026 — fast track before the French presidential elections in April 2027.

Industrial Accelerator Act

Commission's flagship competitiveness proposal, already published.

Introduces "Made in EU" and low-carbon preferences in public procurement for steel, cement, aluminium, cars, and net-zero technologies.

The green-transition axis

How MEPs position on the green transition shapes how they'll read the Act's low-carbon preference clauses.

Legislative work intensifies in 2026

Key upcoming proposals:

• A second Chemicals Industry Package, including REACH revision 2026
• A new Circular Economy Act Q3 2026

Second Chemicals Industry Package

The broader rewrite of chemicals rules — REACH revision is the centerpiece — coming on top of the simplification package already moving through the institutions.

Simplification of chemical products

The "other" chemicals file already working through the institutions — the Classification, Labelling and Packaging / cosmetics / fertilisers simplification.

Where the Council landed

• On cosmetic products — stronger safeguards for consumer safety (hazard communication, ingredient labelling, safety assessments)
• On fertiliser products — stronger safeguards for environmental & agricultural safety, especially on the approval of new materials (incl. micro-organisms)
• On Classification, Labelling and Packaging — accepts more of the simplification the Commission proposed (lighter compliance burden on industry: reduced labelling on small containers, digital labelling)

A new Circular Economy Act

Aims to:

• establish a Single Market for secondary raw materials
• increase the supply of high-quality recycled materials and stimulate demand for these materials in the EU

Stakeholder activity already intense

over 800 feedbacks submitted through the Public Consultation · 552 documented meetings with 330 distinct organisations.

Most active voices include Zero Waste Europe, European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment, Municipal Waste Europe — a mix of circular-economy advocates, packaging industry and waste-management sector.

Legislative work intensifies in 2026

Focus is switching to energy security — infrastructure, connectivity, dependency, efficiency.

Ongoing: European Grids Package

Published by EC in December 2025. 68 recorded stakeholder meetings on the package communication.

• Trans-European energy infrastructure: guidelines legislative EP: awaiting committee decision Council: under examination 85 meetings
• Acceleration of permit-granting procedures legislative EP: awaiting committee decision Council: under examination

Key upcoming proposals

• Omnibus to simplify energy product legislation Q2 2026
• Energy Union package for the decade ahead Q3 2026:
  • Development of the CO₂ transportation infrastructure and markets legislative
  • Setting-up of the energy efficiency framework legislative
  • Setting-up of the renewable energy framework legislative

Transport — the CO₂ fight drives the sector

A sector dominated by one defining fight: the automotive package and the 2035 internal-combustion-engine phase-out. Around it sit the adjacent files — end-of-life vehicles, animal transport, military mobility, air passenger rights, package travel.

We'll open on the automotive cleavage, then zoom out to the wider pipeline.

Automotive package — the CO₂ targets fight

Revision of CO₂ emissions targets for vehicles — the battle over the 2035 ICE phase-out. The most vocal topic in transport: 132 MEPs have already spoken.

Council map — CO₂ standards for cars & vans

Projected view of where national governments stand on the revision of CO₂ standards.

Transport — the wider pipeline

• Circularity requirements for vehicle design & end-of-life vehicles (REFIT) Awaiting Parliament's position in 1st reading (after trilogues) 273 meetings
• Protection of animals during transport and related operations EP: awaiting cmte 269 meetings
• Framework on transport of military equipment, goods and personnel across the Union EP awaiting cmte 42 meetings
• Air passenger rights Awaiting Parliament's position in 1st reading (after trilogues) 57 meetings

Retail & consumer — digital + product policy

• Digital Fairness Act EC publication · Q4 2026 — targets dark patterns, online personalisation, influencer marketing 370 meetings

Health — pharma track

Health Package — three files

• Biotech Act legislative EP: preparatory phase Council: under examination 105 meetings on the INI report
• Revised rules on medical and in vitro diagnostic devices legislative EP: awaiting committee decision Council: under examination 96 meetings across the two files
• Safe Hearts Plan communication

Pharmaceuticals regulation

Digital — getting a lot of traction

Many proposals under discussion.

Digital Omnibus on AI

Ongoing digital files

• Digital omnibus EP: awaiting committee decision Council: under examination
• Cybersecurity Act Revision EP: awaiting committee decision Council: under examination 83 meetings across the files
• Digital Networks Act EP: preparatory phase Council: under examination 325+ meetings — one of the most engaged digital files

Digital sovereignty & consumer protection

• Cloud and AI Development Act and Chips Act EC publication · May 2026 251 meetings already
• Update of rules on audiovisual media services EC publication · Q3 2026 52 meetings
• Digital Fairness Act EC publication · Q4 2026 370 meetings

Agri-food — CAP at the centre, plus regulatory hot spots

The Common Agricultural Policy 2028–2034 is the headline file — and politically the most contested. Around it: simplification, imports, pesticides, animal welfare, and farmer position in the supply chain.

We'll walk through the cleavages file by file — CAP first.

Common Agricultural Policy 2028–2034

Agricultural trade — Ukraine imports

Rare file where left-wing and right-wing parties converge against the centrist pro-Ukraine position.

EU policy on pesticides

Key file: Simplification of food & feed safety requirements.

Finance — Digital Euro headline, capital markets the deeper pipeline

Finance splits in two. The Digital Euro is the flagship — high-visibility, sharply political. Behind it sits the technical rewrite: capital-markets integration, sustainability disclosures, retail investor protection, securitisation, open finance — all moving in parallel.

We'll look at Digital Euro's cleavage first, then the broader finance pipeline.

Digital Euro — left-right divide

Capital Markets · ESG disclosure · Banking Union

• Capital markets integration — Master Regulation EP: Awaiting committee decision 117 meetings
• Retail investor protection rules (MiFID / PRIIPs amendment) Awaiting Parliament's position in 1st reading (after trilogues) 77 meetings
• SFDR + PRIIPs — sustainability-related disclosures overhaul EP: awaiting committee decision 60 meetings
• Securitisation framework — STS regulation + prudential amendments EP: Awaiting committee decision (both files) 112 meetings across both files
• Framework for Financial Data Access (open finance) Awaiting Parliament's position in 1st reading (after trilogues) 50 meetings