Europe’s chemicals industry warns on threat from EU plans
BASF chief says policymakers must work more closely with industry on regulations of 12,000 substances
Europe’s chemicals industry has warned that EU efforts to tighten the regulation of more than 10,000 substances threaten its future just as it grapples with the pressures to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) on Thursday took aim at two measures within a wide-ranging plan to clean up the environment through stricter rules on hazardous chemicals first set out by Brussels in October.
Although Europe’s chemical groups insist that they do not object to the ambitions of the plan, they warn that in its current form the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) threatens to wipe out €70bn of their revenues.
The proposals would target up to 12,000 substances used in everything from paints and detergents to electric-car batteries and semiconductors, forcing chemical companies to develop substitutes or reformulations — a process that can take years.
“CSS in its current form puts a big question mark over the future of chemicals in Europe,” Martin Brudermüller, president of Cefic and chief executive of BASF, told the Financial Times. “All additional costs coming in a region like Europe with very low growth rates is my major concern.”
The trade body said that as well as knocking 12 per cent off revenues, the planned changes would imperil 40,000 jobs on the continent.
Brudermüller urged European policymakers to work more closely with the industry on how to replace or reformulate substances. Funding for research would be needed, he added, while the EU’s ambitions needed to take into account the pressures the industry faces from climate change.
“It’s concerning that what we do here is additional cost and bureaucracy,” he said. “We have to talk about the means, prioritisation and timelines.”
The EU proposals come as large European chemicals groups are trying to revamp their portfolios on speciality chemicals such as battery materials, hydrogen, pharmaceuticals and personal care.