"US company behind Teflon tries to block EU’s forever chemicals ban, claims NGO," 14 January 2025

American chemicals producer Chemours, the group behind the Teflon brand, has been lobbying harder than any other business to water down a proposed European Union ban on harmful PFAS chemicals, according to a new report by non-profit the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)...

Chemours said it is "committed to Europe and its future Clean Industrial Deal and has no intention of slowing down the regulatory process," in a statement to the non-profit. "Like NGOs and representatives of the civil society, companies and trade associations are also encouraged to submit information, data, facts, figures and positions to regulators and policymakers so they can make informed and data-backed decisions," Chemours said...

Of the 17 high-level meetings with the Commission since January 2023 on the topic on the public record, two were with NGOs and 12 were with the corporate sector. Chemours "held or attended at least six of these meetings," the non-profit notes. The company has [allegedly] also tried to coordinate with other industries. In one email obtained by CEO, Dutch company ASML — which provides technology to semiconductor manufacturers — told Dutch officials in Brussels: “Chemours has been trying for months to draw us ... into a lobby against the PFAS ban.” Chemours has secured meetings across various Commission departments, including the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation whom the company pressed for more derogations from the PFAS proposal, adding that otherwise it could “jeopardise investment decisions” in green hydrogen...

Chemours told POLITICO: "We have not advocated for a benchmark instead of a regulation," adding that it wants EU technical guidance documents on fluoropolymers to "harmonize PFAS emissions in all manufacturing sites in Europe."...

The Commission did not respond to a request for comment.