You Can't Build Strategic Autonomy on Unresolved Wrongdoing
- Editor
- 7 hours ago
- 1 min read
Europe is finally talking about strategic autonomy. But can we achieve real autonomy by subsidising foreign companies that own our strategic assets?
It is deeply cynical that Trafigura CEO Richard Holtum published an article last week calling on EU policymakers to protect metal smelters in the name of Europe’s strategic autonomy. Cynical, because it was precisely Trafigura that took zinc smelter Nyrstar out of European control back in 2019, in circumstances still actively contested in Belgian courts, including an ongoing criminal investigation.
Cynical also, because while calling for European support, Trafigura is quietly relocating its European headquarters to Bermuda.
Even more cynical is the timing. Holtum's call for European support came just two weeks after a Nyrstar and Trafigura delegation met with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. The latter has made it his mission to bring strategic assets back under Belgian control, starting with nuclear energy. Indeed, reclaiming strategic assets starts not with subsidies, but with the courage to enforce the rule of law and correct past mistakes.
Most cynical of all: minority shareholders have been fighting for years to undo Nyrstar's restructuring and return these strategic assets to Belgian and European control. At every turn, they have faced a Trafigura dead set on defending the indefensible. Its entire legal arsenal has been deployed for one purpose: to exhaust them rather than face accountability.
Minority shareholders looked to Belgium's financial watchdog FSMA for protection. They looked in vain. The FSMA auditor clearly identified wrongdoing by the Nyrstar board. But its Sanctions Committee chose ambiguity over accountability. However, the FSMA’s responsibility to protect investors does not expire.
This dossier deserves proper (dis)closure.
