Campaigning on chemicals regulatory issues is what we do. We have years of experience in planning, executing and evaluating advocacy and communications campaigns across our team 

Challenge 

An EU Member State put forward a classification proposal under the EU’s Classification and Labelling Regulation for a specific substance. This classification would significantly impact this industry and its downstream users across Europe.  

Solution 

We developed an integrated advocacy and communications strategy to frame, present and defend the position of the industry.  

Our Chemicals Team developed a two-pronged communications solution where we countered misinformation across the EU while proactively communicating about the benefits of the substance to improve perceptions among target audiences. The communications approach resulted in a rebalancing of the narrative from a mainly negative sentiment to a balanced sentiment in most EU markets.  

The FH Chemicals Public Affairs Practice also led the roll-out of the advocacy programme including ongoing strategic guidance and support for engagement with policymakers at the EU and Member State levels. We also coordinated the industry’s work with its value-chain which was essential for a positive outcome. This effort led to widespread mobilisation of industry allies in support of the client’s case, with, for example, unprecedented engagement across industry sectors in EU public consultations on the topic.  

Results 

The advocacy and communications efforts successfully created a coalition of supportive Member States which helped ensure that the final classification and its impacts were appropriately reflective of the scientific evidence and classification’s wider ramifications.