The idea is to protect the sector to ensure Europe remains self-sufficient in chemicals used in everything from fertilizer production to plastics manufacturing.
France, a top global chemical producer, warns the sector is facing a “major crisis,” citing a 12 percent drop in production between 2019 and 2023, which it blames on rising energy costs and “fierce or even unfair competition from non-EU countries.”
“Regarding petrochemistry alone, by 2035, about 20 steam crackers may be shut down, affecting 50,000 jobs, if no collective action is taken,” reads the draft proposal obtained by POLITICO.
The proposed “Critical Chemicals Act” would identify 15 molecules as “strategic,” bringing them under an EU “strategic project” label to enable funding access. The idea borrows from the Critical Raw Materials Act — under which “strategic projects” can benefit from faster permitting procedures and additional funding — and the Critical Medicines Act.
Those “strategic” molecules are to be the building blocks for other industries, with substances like ammonia and methanol supporting agriculture and energy, and ethylene, propylene, butadiene and benzene serving the petrochemical industry.
France is Europe’s second-largest producer of chemicals with a turnover of €108.5 billion in 2023, according to the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). Europe is the second-largest chemicals producer in the world after China.
