Challenge

The patent holder of Teflon™, US Fortune 500 chemical company Chemours, approached Alber & Geiger seeking regulatory and advocacy support over a European Union proposal that would ban all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Those PFAS are chemicals that came under regulatory fire as being the so called “forever chemicals”, which persist in the environment. The political turbulences in the EU started in the Netherlands, continued in Italy and Germany then, until they became an EU wide regulatory initiative in Brussels.

Strategy

On the one hand we were confronted with planned PFAS bans in The Hague, Rome and Berlin which we had to politically manage with the national governments. On the other hand we saw a regulatory initiative develop in Brussels under the EU chemicals strategy. We embarked on a defense for the Chemours specific PFAS named GenX and Teflon™, based on the planned PFAS restrictions. Considering the impact of the restrictions to the supply chains of various Member States, Alber & Geiger entered into discussions with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Commission, the European Parliament, the EU Permanent Representations and the Member States’ Ministries of Industry and Environment.

Results

We managed to stop the national PFAS bans in The Hague, Berlin and Rome. And we aligned them with the EU initiative. There, we made EU regulators and lawmakers understand that they needed to differentiate between different PFAS, such as PFAS of high or low concern, as a liquid, gas or solid material.

Challenge

Alber & Geiger was hired by Nuseed to promote Carinata, a cover crop designed for biofuel production, in the EU Renewable Energy Directive in Brussels. Our team was required to ensure the approval of Carinata’s GHG savings. On top, we were mandated to pave the way for Carinata’s classification as an advanced biofuel towards the EU institutions.

Strategy

We targeted lawmakers in the European Parliament and officials in the European Commission. We presented arguments highlighting Carinata’s benefits, especially in producing high-quality and low greenhouse gas fuels. Carinata’s sustainability was emphasised during our outreach, while concerns over threatening food production and land-use were mitigated.

Results

Our engagement helped remove the yearlong impasse and paved the way for the acknowledgment and approval of Carinata’s GHG savings. Alber & Geiger’s engagement with EU officials and lawmakers increased understanding of the properties and benefits of Carinata. Also, it helped create advocates for a review of the existing list of advanced biofuels, and laid the groundwork for the inclusion of all crops that fulfil the criteria, to create a level playing field.

Challenge

The EU-Morocco trade negotiations were about collapse. Our client, the Kingdom of Morocco was in an unpalatable position, propagated by EU outrage regarding Western Sahara. Morocco was regarded as an occupier of the region, that was illegitimately using the natural resources of the invaded territory, to the detriment of the Saharawi people.

Several Members States and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) demanded that, the EU bring an end to the Agriculture Agreement, and the Fisheries Partnership Agreement with Morocco. The resolution on the “Situation in the Western Sahara,” consequently condemned the actions of the Kingdom of Morocco. Protecting the interests of Morocco required us to tackle a heavy burden of proof amid these string convictions within the EU institutions and Member States.

Strategy

Our strategy combined economic, legal and political narratives. Pragmatically, it demonstrated how crucial from an economic standpoint the Agricultural Agreement and Fisheries Partnership were to the EU internal market. It emphasized the tangible value of such agreements to the Saharawi people, while simultaneously showing the intangible nature of the accusations against Morocco. To do so it articulated the legality of Morocco actions through public international law discourse.

It drew on specific Member State and organizational interests in the fishing and agricultural sector while simultaneously recruiting these interests into a targeted media campaign. It assimilated an overarching sentiment that such stabilizing agreements were needed, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. It drifted EU institutional thought processes along their own rational that trade must follow the rule of law. However, it did so by flipping the script, in showing the potential these agreements had for strengthening regional stability and international adherence to the law.

Results

Alber & Geiger was able to facilitate the signing of a new protocol, guiding the Morocco-EU relationship into a new and more dynamic framework. Creating a stable platform for long term sustainable trade relations that are vital to the security of the region. It was our ability to navigated the EU’s multifaceted foreign policy that allowed us to ensure this result for Morocco.