At 11:45 pm on January 29, in Brussels, a skull and crossbones and words spelled out in capital letters were projected onto the glass and metal façade of the Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission. The words "Ban PFAs now" were written by representatives from communities affected by these "forever chemicals," alongside the environmental organizations European Environmental Bureau and WeMove Europe.

In a letter sent the same day to Ursula von der Leyen, 14 organizations representing people living near sites contaminated by these per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances request a meeting with the Commission president to "share our experiences and testimonies on how pollution has profoundly impacted our lives." In addition to a ban on PFAS, decontamination of polluted sites and the implementation of the polluter pays principle, they have been demanding "health, psychological, legal and financial redress to those harmed by decades of negligence." A previous request for a meeting, in October 2023, went unanswered.

This operation was part of a series of actions carried out across Europe by communities contaminated with PFAS, in response to revelations made by the Forever Lobbying Project. In January, this European investigation coordinated by Le Monde detailed the influence strategies deployed by PFAS manufacturers and their lobbying organizations to obstruct a European plan to ban this entire family of chemicals, an action proposed in February 2023 by five European countries.

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