Third meeting of the High Level Group: Energy, Feedstock and Logistics
Brussels, 18/04/08
April 18th was the date when the High Level Group (HLG) met for the third time. The meeting was chaired by the Vice President of the European Commission, Günter Verheugen.
Based on the draft final conclusions of the HLG Sub Group on Energy, Feedstock and Logistics and the discussion paper presented at the Sherpa Meeting on second of April the discussion in the High Level Group on this matter was conducted in four parts around the following questions:
- Further strengthening of chemical clusters and related infrastructure
- Diversification of raw materials
- How best to ensure effective and efficient global approach to climate change and
- Addressing climate change as a major business opportunity.
Regarding the issue of “Regional Aspects” the ECRN was asked by the chair to provide an input for the Sherpa Meeting on 18th of September. The ECRN wishes to use this opportunity.
The ECRN played a very active and constructive role in the discussion by developing the strategy on chemical logistics on Central- and Eastern Europe and raising the point of planning security for the chemical industry regarding the special treatment of energy intensive industries.
ECRN Executive Board and General Assembly 26/3/08 in Brussels
On the 26th of March 2008 the ECRN Association met for their annual Presidium and General Assembly meeting in Brussels. Host of this meeting was the Representation of North Rhine-Westphalia to the EU. Please see ECRN News for further information.
The adopted ECRN position paper on the Energy Package of the European Commission can be downloaded here.
ECRN Press Release:
Open letter of ECRN President to the President of the European Commission and the EU Presidency
on Commissions Energy and Climate package
ECRN President Dr. Haseloff wrote on the 12th of March 08 an open letter concerning the Energy and Climate package to the European Commission and the EU Presidency. The press release can be downloaded here.
ECRN Seminar on the future of bulk chemical in Europe
The ECRN gained excellent feedback from the participations for its workshop "The future of bulk chemicals in Europe - challenge for chemical regions". Speakers and participants of the European Commission, Associations and Industry gave their contribution at this vivid seminar. Stakeholders across Europe came together in an open and trustful exchange of experience and future predictions. A selection of the presentations and the agenda from the 13/02/2008 can be found here.
ECRN Workshop on Chemical Logistics in Central and Eastern Europe
The ECRN has organised a workshop on the topic of chemical logistics in Central and Eastern Europe on 20th February 2008 in Magdeburg. 40 representatives from administration, industry and academia from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have met to discuss the current challenge for the chemical industry in Central and Eastern Europe related to logistics. The chemical locations in this area are mostly inland locations. There are relatively few sophisticated feedstock networks in Central and Eastern Europe compared to the highly connected locations in Western Europe. Therefore the partners have initiated a discussion within the High Level Group for the competitiveness of the chemical industry in Europe to overcome these disadvantages by developing a Central and Eastern European Feedstock Network. The participants have intensively discussed the problems and challenges of chemical logistics and agreed to further develop cooperation and improve connection of chemical locations. The ECRN will present its position during the HLG Ad Hoc Working Group on Infrastructure in Brussels. Furthermore the partners agreed to develop an Interreg IVB project within the Central Europe area until the 14th of April, to deepen cooperation in the next 3 years. Interested partners are welcome to join this activity.
Second meeting of the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the chemical industry in the European Union on the 18th of Dec 2007
Mandate for the Ad Hoc Group Feedstock, Energy and Logistics
On December 18th the High Level Group (HLG) met for the second time. Vice President Verheugen highlighted that on January 27th 2008 the European Commission will present its proposals on implementing the Energy package. During the internal Commission discussion on the energy package it was possible for him to find support in the Commission for a special treatment of energy intensive industries. In a short debate with High Level Group members the ECRN President Dr. Haseloff (see photo on the right) highlighted the potential impact of the energy package on energy intensive industries and particularly on the production of base chemicals in Europe. Dr Haseloff announced that the chemical regions are very interested in taking part in this debate. Furthermore he suggested putting special attention on the question of chemical logistics in Europe and especially towards the new Member States. The HLG member from Poland and the Czech Republic (see Deputy Minister Milan Hovorka (middle) and Petr Dolejsi (left) from the Czech Permanent Representation) underlined the specific problems of the chemical industry in these countries to cope with the ambitious energy targets of the EU and welcomed the initiative of the ECRN to deal with this matter. Finally the Mandate for the Ad hoc Group was agreed by the HLG.
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Promising results of the 5th ECRN Congress
"Competitive Chemical Regions" was the title of the 5th ECRN congress in Ludwigshafen in which the topics energy, skill-development, technology platforms and the role of bulk chemistry were discussed. The participants and organisers of this event were satisfied with the results of the congress which led to a declaration.
Further information will be published on this website.
Download the Ludwigshafen Declaration
The presentations to the Congress can be found here
Successful ECRN workshop about "REACH" on November 22 and 23, 2007
Upon invitation of the North-Rhine/Westphalian Ministry of Economic Affairs, the chamber of commerce Aachen and the provinces Limburg and Flanders approximately 30 European experts discussed intensively on November 22 and 23, 2007 the topic "the European Union chemical regulation REACH - national and industrial consulting activities". The meeting was integrated into the activities of the network of the European chemical regions, ECRN (European chemical region network), whose new director, Michael Hack, introduced the history of the ECRN and gave an outlook on the future activities of the European Union network.
Mr. Bayer, director of the department of external trade of the chamber of commerce, welcomed the participants, who not only arrived from Germany, Netherlands and Belgium but also from far destinations such as Spain and Estonia. The focus of discussion was on different consulting approaches, which oriented themselves in particular on the needs of small and medium enterprises (SME). Michael Deilmann of the Ministry of Labour of the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia presented the user-oriented and internet based platform "REACH Net" (www.reach-net.com). Here experts reply quickly to questions and offer practically experienced solutions for everybody, additionally users can research in an extensive REACH knowledge database.
For further information, please contact Mrs. Dr. Hanny Nover, REACH Expert in the Ministry of Economic Affairs Düsseldorf, Tel. 0049(0)211-837-2315.
The presentations can be downloaded here. The report of the ECRN workshop can be downloaded here
5th Congress of the European Chemical Regions Network on the 29th/30th November 2007 in Ludwigshafen
The headline of the congress represents our main focus:
"Competitive Chemical Regions in Europe".
Be part of our congress and give your input to the future of our chemical regions in Europe! During two days we will discuss and share our experience in the chemical sector in order to define our strategies for our future challenges.
The Congress will take place on the 29 and 30 November 2007 at BASF in Ludwigshafen/Germany and bring together high-level representatives from politics, industry and academia to discuss major challenges for the chemical industry such as Innovation, Skills Development and Energy.
For further informations please contact Michael Hack, Director of the ECRN e.V. Network Secretariat or
download the Invitation to 5th Congress
of the European Chemical Regions Network.
High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the chemical industry in the European Union
The European Commission launched the work of the High Level Group (HLG) on the Competitiveness of the Chemicals Industry on 10th September 2007. The group consists of senior policy-makers from the public and private sectors together with representatives of civil society. It will examine the factors that determine the competitiveness of the European chemicals industry and will conduct an economic and statistical analysis of the structural changes taking place in the chemicals industry, dealing with questions linked to the sustainable development of the industry.
The group is expected to formulate a set of sector-specific policy recommendations by spring 2009.
European Commission Vice President, Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy and chair of the HLG, stated that the EU chemicals industry is a world leader today and makes an enormous contribution to growth and jobs in Europe. However, there are clear signs that it is facing unprecedented challenges both from the effects of global change and the expectations of our citizens. With this initiative the EU aims to ensure the right framework conditions for the chemicals industry to continue operating and investing in the EU on a sustainable basis.
ECRN President and Minister of Economy Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff meets the Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, Jürgen Hambrecht
The initiative forms part of the EU´s partnership for growth and jobs. The establishment of this Group was first announced in the Communication on Industrial Policy of October 2005 as one of the sector-specific industrial policy initiatives.
In addition to the participation of further Commissioners whose competences cover key issues to be examined by the Group, it also comprises high-level Member State representatives, various regions, the EU chemicals industry and its downstream industries, academia, trade unions, environmental Non Governmental Organisations (NGO´s), and consumer organisations. The European Parliament has also been invited to nominate members of the group. In order to address specific questions and promote reflection, the HLG will seek expertise or contributions from ad-hoc groups of experts.
In recent years the activities of the European Chemical Regions Network have been enhanced by the Commission participation in these consultations. It is the first time that a network of regions has taken part in such a high level dialogue. ECRN President Dr. Reiner Haseloff, supported by his Sherpa Thomas Wobben, will represent the ECRN within the HLG. Other Regions will join the thematic Ad-hoc Groups to bring the ECRN´s input into the discussions. The following Groups will be founded under the HLG: innovation and human resources, trade, energy and raw materials, logistics and regional aspects, economy and social requirements.
ECRN President Haseloff outlined in his statement the role of the ECRN and the chemical regions in finding solutions on the ground to key questions regarding competitiveness. He referred to the ECRN as a network which represents nearly 1 million employees in the chemical sector in Europe. He thanked the Commission for inviting the ECRN as the first regional network to take part in such a high level dialogue and he promised that the ECRN will play a pro-active role in the future work of the HLG. In this sense he stated that it will be important to find adequate solutions for energy intensive industries in the future design of EU climate and energy policy. Furthermore he suggested using the HLG for a concerted effort to further develop the integration of chemical sites in central and Eastern Europe. He also announced that the ECRN is currently working with CEFIC on a joint initiative to bring the European technology platform approach closer to the regions. Finally he invited the European Commission to use chemical regions as test beds for better regulation in the future.
Talks beside the HLG: Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of Total and Chairman and CEO of Atofina and President of Cefic, Francois Cornális; Flanders Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Fientje Moerman; ECRN President and Minister of Economy Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff
Minister Moerman from Flanders, ECRN Member Region, who represents Belgium in the HLG, gave a short summary in her contribution of the experience of dialogue between the Flemish Government and the chemical industry in Flanders, which took place last year.
The chemicals industry plays a key role for the EU. It is a major industry in its own right and at the same time an enabling industry that provides the necessary materials for all the other industrial sectors. With a turnover of € 436 billion (2005) the EU accounts for about 30 % of world chemicals sales. There are approximately 31,000 chemical and pharmaceutical companies in the EU and they employ a total staff of about 1.9 million, or 6% of the overall workforce in the manufacturing industry. SME´s in the EU´s chemical industry account for 30% of sales and 37% of employment.
The EU chemicals industry (excluding pharmaceuticals) is the second leading manufacturing sector in terms of value added per employee. In 2005, the EU chemical industry exported € 110 and imported € 72 resulting in a trade surplus of € 38 billion. With this the chemicals industry accounted for 26% of the total EU manufacturing trade surplus.
