Former European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans is under fire for allegedly channeling substantial public funds to green lobbies, influencing public opinion in favor of the green transition in the energy and agricultural sectors. A reality that Macchine Trattori has been denouncing for years.
Now back in his native Netherlands, Franciscus Cornelis Gerardus Maria Timmermans—Frans to friends—held the position of European Commission Vice President from November 2014 during the Juncker and Von der Leyen Commissions. From December 2019, he became European Commissioner for Climate and the Green Deal. According to an investigation by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, during his tenure, the former Commissioner allegedly redirected part of EU climate and environmental subsidies to fund environmentalist lobbies, exerting pressure both politically and on public opinion to support controversial green policies. These policies, critics argue, are damaging Europe while having a negligible impact on reducing global emissions.
Potential irregularities
The Amsterdam-based newspaper specifically criticized eco-campaigns supporting the Nature Restoration Law, a regulation strongly advocated by Timmermans but heavily opposed by various industrial and agricultural sectors. Passed in July 2023, the law aims to restore ecosystem biodiversity and was fervently backed by an alliance of 185 environmental organizations.
Now, Dirk Gotink from the EU Budget Control Committee, along with Piotr Serafin, head of the EU’s Budget and Public Administration, is investigating these subsidies for potential irregularities. Gotink has already stated that such financial arrangements were highly questionable, particularly because they sought to influence Members of the European Parliament. This confirms that environmental lobbies played a significant role not only in shaping public opinion but also in swaying European politicians—benefiting from both EU subsidies and generous private donations. One notable example is Greenpeace’s campaigns for bee protection, which exaggerated the species’ endangerment to alarm the uninformed public and encourage donations.
European economic sustainibility damaged
Beyond media scrutiny, even EU regulatory bodies find it suspicious that Timmermans directed public money to green lobbying groups, reinforcing support for his pseudo-green proposals. These initiatives, masked as environmental protection, are instead undermining Europe’s economic sustainability, making the continent increasingly vulnerable in terms of energy, industry, and agriculture. This weakness benefits global powers like the US, Russia, and China—the very nations poised to strengthen their positions at the EU’s expense due to the Green Deal.
One particularly intriguing detail about Frans Timmermans is his past as a diplomat from 1987 to 1998, including his time at the Dutch embassy in Moscow. It may be a mere coincidence that a former diplomat with extensive experience in Russia worked so diligently to dismantle European agriculture using pseudo-ecological mercenaries. But as Giulio Andreotti, a key figure in Italy’s Christian Democracy, once said: Thinking the worst of others is a sin, but often, it’s right.
Titolo: Frans Timmermans and Green Lobby: EU Funds Used to Influence Public Opinion?
Autore: Donatello Sandroni
