French investigative platform: INEOS awarded more than €300 million in subsidies after funding criteria were changed

According to the investigation, the eligibility criteria for the funding scheme were amended after the French environmental agency ADEME had rejected the company's original application. As a result, INEOS ultimately became eligible for the subsidy. 

Subsidy granted after initial rejection 

According to Disclose, INEOS initially failed to meet the conditions set by ADEME for the subsidy programme. After the application was rejected, the office of Prime Minister François Bayrou intervened, the investigation claims. The eligibility criteria were revised and exceptions were added to the scheme. 

Disclose also reports that there were contacts between the French government and INEOS executives while the subsidy process was still underway. Ultimately, the company was awarded more than €300 million for its petrochemical site in Martigues. 

Several legal experts consulted by Disclose described the case as raising concerns about possible cronyism. The investigation further states that President Emmanuel Macron met with INEOS executives at least twice while the subsidy process was ongoing, including a meeting on 7 July 2025. Those meetings took place before the eligibility criteria had been amended. 

France's third-largest industrial CO₂ emitter 

According to Disclose, the Martigues facility is France's third-largest industrial emitter of CO₂. Since 2020, the investigative platform has documented 29 incidents at the site, including open-air gas flaring and chemical discharges. 

Multiple environmental violations 

A separate legal case concerning oil spills into the sea in 2018 and 2022 was settled in May 2026. The settlement, worth €1.2 million, allowed Naphtachimie, INEOS' subsidiary in Martigues, to avoid a court trial. 

Also relevant to Project ONE 

INEOS operates across several European countries. In the Port of Antwerp, the company is building Project ONE, Europe's largest new plastics plant. 

Plastic Soup Foundation is one of fourteen organisations that have launched legal proceedings against Project ONE. 

We previously covered Project ONE and the ongoing court case in our article Historic lawsuit challenges Europe's largest new plastics plant. 

Public money should not support fossil plastics 

The subsidy programme used by INEOS was designed to help industry decarbonise. The fact that the eligibility criteria were changed after ADEME had rejected the company's application makes this case particularly concerning. 

Climate goals require different choices 

The French revelations illustrate a broader trend: public money continues to flow into fossil plastic production while governments simultaneously commit to ambitious climate and plastic reduction targets. 

Climate ambitions lose credibility when they are not matched by clear decisions about how public money is spent. Climate targets are only meaningful if public investments actively support them. 

Where should public money go? 

Public funding can be used differently. Investing in reducing plastic production, scaling up reuse systems and developing sustainable alternatives is not only possible—it is essential if governments are to meet the climate and plastic reduction goals they have set themselves. 

The legal case against Project ONE is still ongoing. What politicians failed to resolve is now in the hands of the courts.