Belgian EPP Members of the European Parliament call in letter to Von der Leyen for “swift and concrete action for the European chemical sector”

The Belgian members of the EPP Group in the European Parliament today sent a letter to the European Commission with an urgent call for concrete short-term measures to reverse the rapidly deteriorating situation in the European chemical sector. “Thousands of jobs are at stake. The time for analyses and planning is over. What is needed now are tangible measures in the short term,” state Wouter Beke, Liesbet Sommen and Pascal Arimont.

The European chemical sector is facing a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. Since 2022, nearly 9% of total European production capacity has disappeared, amounting to 160 closed installations and hundreds of thousands of jobs. At the same time, investment in new capacity has fallen dramatically, as Europe is increasingly perceived as an expensive and uncertain industrial location.

Belgium is not immune to this negative trend. In the Antwerp chemical cluster, installations are currently operating at only 65% of capacity, the lowest level since 1981. Companies are announcing restructurings, prolonged shutdowns and closures, which weigh heavily on employment and investment confidence. According to the Members of the European Parliament, the cancellation of a large-scale green investment project and its relocation outside Europe is an alarm signal that cannot be ignored.

The EPP Members of the European Parliament warn of the broader consequences of this downsizing. “Chemicals are a fundamental base sector for almost all industrial value chains: from pharmaceuticals and batteries to construction, defence and renewable energy,” they say. “If this base disappears from Europe, we will become structurally dependent on imports, lose strategic autonomy and risk carbon leakage. That is de-industrialisation, with severe consequences for jobs, prosperity and our climate policy.”

In their letter, the Belgian EPP members ask the Commission to deliver tangible improvements within the next 12 to 18 months, including through:

• rapid relief from high energy prices,
• a reduction in cumulative regulatory pressure and high carbon costs,
• targeted incentives to stimulate demand for European and low-carbon products,
• and a firm approach to global overcapacity and unfair, state-supported import pressure.

“Europe cannot afford a creeping dismantling of its chemical base,” the parliamentarians conclude. “Without swift action, irreversible capacity loss threatens. What is needed now is not a new diagnosis, but a short-term package that quickly restores competitiveness and makes investment possible again.”

The European summit in Alden Biesen (Limburg) next week immediately offers an opportunity to move towards concrete measures.