French fossil fuel giant TotalEnergies has held several meetings with members of the European Commission and European Parliament to make the case for changes to EU sustainable fund rules, Responsible Investor can reveal.
Under reforms tabled by the Commission to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) last year, funds under the new Transition category must exclude companies that are expanding fossil fuel operations.
Critics say this could limit the ability of carbon-intensive firms to finance climate transition activities.
Staffers in the European Parliament and other Brussels-based policy experts have told RI that Total lobbyists have become an increasingly visible presence during events and discussions relating to SFDR.
Freedom of information disclosures from the Commission show that Total met with European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque in October and submitted an analysis titled “TotalEnergies consideration on the revision of SFDR”.
The meeting was scheduled to discuss SFDR’s “potential implications for energy sector companies … particularly regarding the geographical evolution of their shareholder base, which is critical for Europe’s energy supply security and sovereignty”.
The Commission’s eventual proposal, released a month later, maintained the strict prohibition on fossil fuel expansion as seen in earlier drafts.
An impact assessment produced by the Commission noted that Transition funds are still allowed to invest in use-of-proceeds instruments issued by fossil fuel companies, despite prohibitions on equity investments.
Separately, the parliamentary transparency register shows that Total representatives met SFDR rapporteur Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy and the lead negotiator from the EPP – the largest parliamentary grouping – Luděk Niedermayer, in addition to two other MEPs to discuss the legislation.
No other fossil fuel company disclosed meetings on SFDR.
Total representatives have also been present at informal events, such as a recent lunch organised by the Kangaroo Group, a cross-party group for MEPs.
Loosening criteria
The SFDR reforms proposed by the European Commission are now being discussed internally by EU member states and the European Parliament. There are already signs that the Transition fund criteria will undergo a rethink.
Near-final proposals at the Council of the EU, which represents member states, would allow Transition funds to invest in firms expanding fossil fuel exploration if they dedicate a certain percentage of capex toward taxonomy-aligned activities.
Meeting documents reported by RI show that “most” member states backed a 20 percent threshold proposal under a plan brokered by France, although an alternative threshold at 15 percent received some support.
The companies would also require a strategy to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Emissions produced from customers burning fossil fuels extracted by producers, which fall under Scope 3 emissions, account for an overwhelming 80-95 percent of the total carbon footprint in the oil and gas sector.
Total is currently the only oil major that would comply with the eligibility threshold proposed by France, according to public disclosures.
In 2025, Total’s taxonomy-aligned capex made up 24 percent of its overall expenditure, compared with Eni and Shell’s reported 10.8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. New York-listed Chevron and ExxonMobil and London-listed BP did not disclose their share of capex which meets the EU-derived metric.
Energy sovereignty
A Total spokesperson told RI: “Our position on SFDR is well known and has been publicly expressed by the company in response to the European Commission’s consultation.”
The company’s submission to the Commission in April warned that a broad exclusion of oil and gas “would widen the valuation gap compared to US and non-EU peers and weaken European investors’ control over these firms, leading to potential risks to Europe’s security of supply and industrial autonomy”.
It added that non-European shareholders “are less prone to encouraging transition-related investments”.
Finally, Total justified increasing production to meet rising demand and “to keep prices at an acceptable level to create the conditions for a Just Transition”.
In 2025, French courts found that the company misled consumers by presenting itself as a “major player in the energy transition”, given the company’s expanding production of fossil fuels.