European Green Deal called a threat to small firms

There is an urgent need to protect small and midsize enterprises as Europe’s chemical industry strives to meet the cost of transitioning to a low-carbon manufacturing base, as prescribed by European legislation known as the European Green Deal. That’s the view of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), Europe’s largest chemical trade association. The challenge is remaining competitive while paying for the transition and addressing circularity and digitalization, Marco Mensink, Cefic’s director general, told European Commission officials gathered at EU Industry Days 2022, a policy discussion meeting held earlier this month in Brussels. BASF chairman and Cefic president Martin Brudermüller, who attended the event, told delegates of “cries for help” from small companies over the issue. “We need to generate the business case, or the transition will simply not work,” he said. The warnings come as Cefic forecasts that the value of chemicals produced by European Union member states will grow by a “modest” 2.5% in 2022. The industry enjoyed growth of about 6% last year.