BRUSSELS — Destroying the EU’s environmental policies to boost manufacturing and keep Europe competitive with China and the U.S. is a mistake, says former Arsenal player and French international footballer Mathieu Flamini.
Instead, the athlete, who is now the CEO of a France-based chemicals company, says the bloc should double down on moving away from fossil fuels, arguing that weakening rules like the EU’s Emissions Trading System would not solve Europe’s competitiveness problem.
“The reality is, if we believe we’re going to remove the carbon tax in Europe and suddenly we’re gonna be competitive with China or other [regions], we’re lying to ourselves,” Flamini told POLITICO in an interview.
Flamini co-founded GF Biochemicals in 2013, the same year he returned to north London to play for Arsenal for the second time, after a five-year stint in Italy with AC Milan. The company turns agricultural waste into bio-based chemicals used in everyday items such as paints, cosmetics, and cleaning products.
