Exxon wants to leave Europe (taking away billions of investments due to excessive bureaucracy)
Exxon has warned the European Union that it will leave and take billions of dollars in climate investments with it if Brussels doesn't make it easier to spend those billions on transition-related projects.
The Financial Times quoted the company today as saying that bureaucracy in the EU is excessive and that it takes too long to start a project, prompting the energy multinational to consider spending the $20 billion elsewhere of investments for decarbonisation planned for the period 2022-2027. In reality, Exxon is doing what many European companies, crushed by a para-Soviet bureaucracy, have wanted to do for some time or are already doing.
“ When we make investments, we have very long time horizons in mind. I would say that recent developments in Europe have not instilled confidence in predictable, long-term policies ,” Karen McKee, president of Exxon Product Solutions, told the FT.
“ We are seeing the deindustrialization of the European economy and we are concerned ,” McKee said. Deindustrialization also cuts the customer base to which an energy company offers its products, making the market less attractive.
The European Union leadership has repeatedly promised to facilitate transition projects, but appears to have been slow to do so. According to Exxon – and many other companies involved in the transition – getting a project off the ground in the EU is fraught with regulatory hurdles and “slow and tortuous” permitting and financing procedures, according to Exxon's McKee.
The EU's plan for the Green Deal includes a “ predictable and simplified regulatory environment ” as one of its four pillars, but judging by the reactions of the business world, this has not yet moved from theory to practice. Faster access to finance is the second pillar of the EU line, but this too is slow to materialize.
In reality, the decisions are always made by people who have never seen a construction site or a factory in their life, who do not know any production process, and who actually live with the need to justify their existence by "regulating" and "reducing" the role of the private sector. It would be easier to ask a donkey to fly than to see a bureaucrat give up his power independently .
It is these delays in implementation that have prompted business leaders to gather in Belgium today to put pressure on the EU leadership to move from words to action. There is growing concern that the regulatory burden placed on businesses will scare them away, driving investment elsewhere.
Some European leaders, notably France's Emmanuel Macron and Belgium's Alexander de Croo , have also blamed bureaucracy for the farmers' protests. You will see that, beyond a bit of political controversy, nothing will happen: the Franco-German bureaucracy is too powerful and will resist until a cataclysmic event.
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The article Exxon wants to leave Europe (taking away billions of investments due to excessive bureaucracy) comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/exxon-vuole-andarsene-dalleuropa-e-portarsi-via-i-miliardi-di-investimenti-per-leccessiva-burocrazia/ on Tue, 20 Feb 2024 11:00:56 +0000.