16 June 2025 – In view of the current conflict situation in the Middle East, base metals in Asia and Europe are proving surprisingly stable. New dirt from Brussels: Commission lobbying again on its own behalf? Criticism from the EU Parliament of the Commission’s NGO policy is growing.
Base metals remain stable despite current conflict
In view of the current conflict in the Middle East, base metals in Asia and Europe are proving surprisingly stable. Nickel, aluminium and copper prices moved sideways in Asia on Monday, and LME prices for the three important base metals also proved resilient at the start of trading.
We would also like to note that sensational reports of exorbitant increases in oil prices for the important crude oil benchmarks WTI and Brent are currently only at the level of early April 2025. In fact, current crude oil prices are approximately 11% below the long-term average since 2021. Thus, the behaviour of many media outlets can be described as attention-seeking and click baiting.
New dirt from Brussels: Commission lobbying again on its own behalf?
New criticism of the European Commission is now coming from the European aviation industry. As Politico is currently reporting, a paper allegedly originating from the aviation industry on the promotion of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) was drafted by EU Commission officials. The so-called ‘Le Bourget Declaration’ was presented to lobby groups by the Commission for signature and then handed over to the EU Transport Commissioner.
Is the Commission influencing the ReFuelEU initiative directly?
According to Politico, the Commission’s goal is to support the ReFuelEU initiative, even though major European airlines recently called for a postponement of the SAF requirements. The aviation industry sees this as an unusual attempt by the Commission to influence public perception and thus secure political support for its climate targets, which otherwise appear to be no longer enforceable.
Commission in its own lobbying swamp?
For several weeks now, the various departments of the Commission, and thus also Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have been facing growing criticism for their dealings with non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Among other things, journalists had revealed that the Commission had obliged NGOs to promote the EU Green Deal in line with its agenda and to influence public opinion in this regard.
MEP criticises NGO contracts
On Friday, MEP Markus Ferber (CSU) said in the Bayerische Staatszeitung that if the EU Commission had concluded contracts with environmental associations and activists to promote its ‘Green Deal’ for climate protection, this would actively undermine the current Commission agenda for greater competitiveness and a future-proof economy.
He went on to say: ‘The NGO contracts still bear the clear hallmarks of former Social Democratic Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermanns, who wanted to push through his unbridled “Green Deal” agenda without regard for economic concerns. It is precisely this policy that citizens rejected in the last European elections.’
We expressly welcome and endorse the position of MEP Markus Ferber on this matter.
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