Have you voted in the 2010 worst EU lobbying awards yet?

ArcelorMittal, one of the candidates for the worst EU lobby award, is the world’s largest private steel company, producing 10 per cent of the world’s steel. It is also one of Europe’s largest emitters of CO2. Yet the company successfully lobbied the European Commission on behalf of Europe’s biggest polluters to continue getting free greenhouse gas emissions permits until at least 2020.

So if you haven’t voted in the 2010 worst EU lobbying awards yet, ArcelorMittal is a good bet.

ArcelorMittal has also opposed EU proposals to increase CO2 cuts from 20 to 30 per cent, and tried but failed to challenge the rules governing the Emissions Trading Scheme in the European Court and claim financial damages. All the same, the company has profited nicely from its lobbying efforts. In 2008-2009 it held more than 50 million surplus EU emissions allowances – worth up to EUR 1 billion – which it received free of charge, and all of which it can sell to other companies or use itself until 2012.

Bankwatch has seen up close how the company has gone cap in hand to the EBRD, the IFC and the EIB for multiple public loans – over EUR 1 billion in public loans – for environmental improvements. Yet when it comes to showing the public some results… nul points, as they say in Eurovision. From Kazakhstan to Canada, ArcelorMittal’s facilities keep belching pollution, while environmental investments and improvements keep getting delayed.

If there was ever a company that is better at sweet talking decision-makers than making environmental improvements on the ground, it’s ArcelorMittal. It scoops up just about everything else, so why not help ArcelorMittal clinch this year’s top prize in the worst EU lobbying awards.