Thousands of the most notorious chemicals will be rapidly banned by the EU, the European Commission announced today. The action will be the largest ever regulatory removal of authorised chemicals anywhere and covers substances that environmental, consumer and health groups have fought against for decades. Read the full press release here.
The EEB wanted to ensure its groundbreaking chemicals plan got the attention it deserved – this wasn’t guaranteed given that it was being handled by the Commission’s department for business. To ensure visibility, I reached out to leading publications across Europe that agreed to prepare stories ready for publication as soon as the official announcement was made, notably El Pais, El Mundo, ABC, Figaro, Le Monde, BFMTV, Guardian, The FT, TAZ, Irish Times, Kurier, Le Soir.
EEB was featured on TV in France, Belgium and Spain and the story splashed the front page lead (web version) of a leading Danish newspaper, pushing aside the French election results and the Ukraine war (full article). The minister was quoted as being pleased. At least 400 articles were written, shared over 9,000 times on social media. The tone of the coverage was universally positive, reflecting our press release and adopting a number of its soundbites and formulations, including the flipping of disingenuous industry content into a strong case for chemical protections.
