The European Commission has said that it is committed to boosting the competitiveness of Europe's chemical sector after holding talks with representatives of the industry.
Hosted by the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the meeting - billed as the first meeting in a 'strategic dialogue' on the future of the chemical industry in Europe - brought together industry players including BASF, Dow Europe and Solvay, as well as a number of stakeholders including Cefic and the European Chemical Agency.
The objective of the meeting was to jointly identify priority measures to deliver on the Commission’s commitment to support the chemical industry’s competitiveness while ensuring sustainability, security and safety.
In setting out the Commission’s support for the sector, von der Leyen highlighted the Commission’s focus on four key pillars of the sector which are mitigating high energy costs; improving access to capital; addressing the skills gap; and simplification as well as diversification of supply chains.
The Commission also underlined the importance of the Clean Industrial Deal which sets out a route for decarbonisation of European industry as well as building competitiveness.
Welcoming the meeting with Commission, European chemicals industry group Cefic said: “It is clear that our industry is the mother of all industries and fundamental for Europe’s future. Our EU chemical industry supports Europe’s ambitions, but we need to discuss how we achieve these. We cannot deliver on these goals if we lose our industrial base to other regions.”
Also at the meeting was the European Environmental Bureau, an environmental NGO, which urged the Commission to accelerate the shift towards a carbon-neutral, circular, zero-pollution, and toxic-free chemicals sector.
“It’s time we stop taking decades to regulate what takes weeks to market. Strengthening REACH, banning harmful substances, and investing in transparency, traceability, and safer alternatives will build a healthier, circular, more resilient, and economically future-proof Europe,” said Patrick ten Brink, EEB secretary general.
Commenting on consumer safety, the Commission said that by summer it would present and action plan for the chemical sector, as well as a Chemicals Industry Package by the end of the year. These initiatives, the Commission said, would ensure that consumer safety protection and competitiveness would “go hand-in-hand.”
The meeting between the Commission and Europe’s chemical sector follows concerns, which were raised earlier this year, that the industry is being pushed to ‘breaking point' by issues such as high energy costs, regulation and tough competition from international rivals.
A joint study by Cefic and Advancy, released in January, indicated that between 2023 and 2024, announcements were made that 11 million tonnes of production capacity would close across 21 major European production sites. In addition, weak demand has led to a decrease in annual average production volumes.
While the meeting between the Commission and representatives of the chemicals sector was focused on tackling the local structural issues, the Commission added that there were also discussions on the impact of US tariffs as well as the digital green transition.
Further reading:
• Net zero: What progress has the chemicals industry made?
• US tariffs: Understanding the impact on the chemicals industry
• Net-Zero Industry act set to strengthen EU’s industrial base
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