European chemical industry leaders have backed plans to transform the European Union into a competitive low carbon economy.
The recent annual General Assembly of the European Chemical Industry Council, the Brussels-based organisation representing the European chemical industry, voiced its full support for tackling climate change. However, it also urged EU policymakers to ensure that the European industry is able to stay competitive and not hamper its efforts to compete with the rest of the world.
Cefic made the comments on the back of predicted modest growth prospects within the EU of +1.5% for 2016. Moreover, says Cefic, through to 2030, the European chemical industry’s global market share is likely to continue the decline which started in the early 2000s. This contrasts sharply with expectations that demand for chemical products will double, with the United States and Asia as the main beneficiaries in a fiercely competitive environment.
Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, President of Cefic and CEO of Solvay, said: ”We have safeguarded our competitiveness partly by reducing energy intensity year after year, halving it since 1990, and we will pursue our efforts. “As a provider of solutions and innovations for almost all manufacturing sectors, the chemical industry enables the EU to achieve its goals for climate change mitigation and energy transition but we also need the EU to help us regain competitiveness by adopting clear, realistic, long-term policies that bring investments and growth back into the region.”
