logo
EU to set up Critical Chemical Alliance to secure supply chains

EU to set up Critical Chemical Alliance to secure supply chains

Hindustan Times08-07-2025
* EU to set up Critical Chemical Alliance to secure supply chains
Critical Chemical Alliance to tackle supply chain dependencies and distortions
*
EU chemical production faces competition from cheaper U.S. and Chinese rivals
*
Commission to expand state aid and simplify rules for chemicals industry
By Julia Payne
BRUSSELS, - The European Commission will work with EU member states and the chemicals sector to support production of chemicals identified as critical for Europe's industrial supply chains, the EU executive said on Tuesday. It said it will establish later this year a Critical Chemical Alliance, bringing together the Commission, member states, and various stakeholders as part of a wider plan to revive Europe's chemicals industry
The chemical alliance will "identify critical production sites needing policy support and tackle trade issues like supply chain dependencies and distortions," the Commission said in a statement. The move mirrors another alliance set up to identify metals and minerals key for the energy transition. The EU then set targets for mining, processing and recycling of 17 strategic materials.
Chemicals are a fundamental input for nearly all industries from textiles and defence to tech and account for 1.2 million direct jobs in the EU. However, chemical production plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic and it has not fully recovered in the face of competition with U.S. and Chinese rivals that benefit from significantly cheaper energy and production costs.
Commission officials said more than 20 chemical sites have closed over the last two years, with petrochemicals and ammonia "under severe pressure".
"First and foremost, there is the issue of sovereignty: keeping our steam crackers," European Commission Executive Vice President and industry commissioner Stephane Sejourne told reporters.
Steam crackers, a unit in petrochemical plants, produce building block chemicals ethylene and propylene, which are used in everything from plastic food packaging and rubber to car headlights and fleece hoodies. The EU has around 40 steam crackers. On Monday, chemicals giant Dow said it planned to shut two plants in Germany and one in Britain over the next two years.
Sejourne told reporters the alliance would evaluate the bloc's dependence on imports in the context of the importance of the molecule.
"We are 80% dependent on foreign imports for methanol, for example, and if we look at the critical production sites, we need to safeguard and retain European sovereignty... Work will be done to identify these molecules, and the plan proposes to move forward on a kind of Critical Molecules Act." Further, the Commission will include chemicals in future trade agreements and strengthen surveillance of chemical imports. The Commission has already opened 18 trade defence investigations into different molecules since 2024.
To compensate for high energy prices, the Commission will expand state aid, speed up permitting and provide energy guarantees from EU funds. The Commission will also include EU-content criteria in public procurement for chemicals, an effort being promoted across EU industries, Sejourne said. Finally, the Commission will present its sixth simplification package, known as an omnibus, for the chemicals industry. The omnibus, due to be proposed before the year end, will simplify rules on labelling of dangerous chemicals as well as revise rules around cosmetics and fertilizers adding up to savings of 363 million euros a year.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

What is Bela? Trump's four-letter post leaves internet baffled
What is Bela? Trump's four-letter post leaves internet baffled

Hindustan Times

time14 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

What is Bela? Trump's four-letter post leaves internet baffled

President Donald Trump has sent the internet into a tizzy with his four-letter post on Truth Social. Amid a flurry of posts on Trump's own platform, regarding his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump wrote the word 'Bela'. Donald Trump is set to meet with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Monday, where several European leaders will also reportedly be present. (X/@WhiteHouse) Donald Trump's Truth Social post(Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump) Now, it has left everyone wondering as to what the president could possibly be trying to say. What is Bela and why did Trump write it? As far as any immediate connections can be drawn, 'Bela' does not seem to have any bearing on the President of the United States. In most likelihood, it is a typo from the POTUS amid the many posts he was putting out on the platform. Ahead of the seemingly incomprehensible word, Trump had written on Truth Social 'BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED! President DJT'. He also wrote 'If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal. That's why they are the FAKE NEWS! Also, they should talk about the 6 WARS, etc., I JUST STOPPED!!! MAGA.' This has been the theme of Trump's posts for the day – taking it to the press for criticizing his handling of the meeting with Putin. 'Bela' leaves internet baffled Soon after Trump put 'Bela' out into the world, internet sleuths got onto the task. One person on Reddit went so far as to posit that perhaps Trump, or his social media team, might be referring to the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) law in South Africa, which is reportedly controversial. The term even began to trend on X. Bela trends on X(X) With the term trending, it also sparked a series of posts online. One person recalled Trump's last word snafu, when he had said 'covfefe', and shared a post on it. Another quipped with a faux Trump-Putin conversation 'Trump: Please don't release the Kompromat on me. Putin: Then let us take over Ukraine! Trump: Ok let me think about it. Putin: You have until tomorrow. Just tweet 'Bela' so I know the deal is a on. Otherwise the videos will be released.' Yet another joked that due to 'Bela', Belarus was trending, and people would read up on the place, when trying to figure out what Trump meant. Meanwhile, the US president is set to meet with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Monday, where several European leaders will also reportedly be present.

Zelenskyy hails US ‘historic decision' on security guarantees for Ukraine
Zelenskyy hails US ‘historic decision' on security guarantees for Ukraine

India Today

time14 minutes ago

  • India Today

Zelenskyy hails US ‘historic decision' on security guarantees for Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed US President Donald Trump's 'historic decision' to offer Ukraine security guarantees if a peace deal is reached with Russia, while dismissing suggestions that Kyiv might cede territory to Moscow.''This is a historic decision that the United States is ready to take part in security guarantees for Ukraine. Security guarantees, as a result of our joint work, must really be very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air, and at sea, and must be developed with Europe's participation,' Zelenskyy said in a remarks came a day before Zelenskyy's scheduled meeting in Washington with US President Donald Trump, following Trump's surprise breakthrough with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Trump and Putin had reached an unexpected understanding that the United States and European allies could extend NATO-style security guarantees to Ukraine.'We were able to win the following concession: that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,' Witkoff told CNN. He added it was the first time Russia had agreed in principle to such an welcomed the shift, saying security guarantees must be 'very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air, and at sea, and developed with Europe's participation.' He emphasized that Ukraine's sovereignty and borders could not be negotiated away, insisting that talks with Russia should start from the current front leaders also backed the development. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron praised Trump's apparent willingness to provide guarantees and pledged support for a 'reassurance force' once hostilities and the European Commission joined Zelenskyy in affirming that borders cannot be redrawn by SEEKS OWN SECURITY GUARANTEES Meanwhile, Russia's envoy to international organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said Moscow agreed that any peace agreement should include reliable guarantees for Ukraine, but insisted that Russia must also receive credible assurances.'Many leaders of EU states emphasise that a future peace agreement should provide reliable security assurances or guarantees for Ukraine,' Ulyanov wrote on X. 'Russia agrees with that. But it has equal right to expect that Moscow will also get efficient security guarantees.'Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty says that an attack on any of the alliance's 32 members in Europe or North America will be considered an attack on all. US officials indicated that a similar framework could be applied to Ukraine as an alternative to full NATO membership, which Putin has long Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Alaska talks as 'progress,' but cautioned that a ceasefire was still unlikely in the near term. 'Ultimately, where this should lead is to a meeting between Zelenskyy, Putin, and President Trump, where we can finalize. But we've got to get this thing closer before we get to that point,' he told CNN.- EndsTune InMust Watch

Putin agrees to explore NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine: Trump envoy
Putin agrees to explore NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine: Trump envoy

India Today

time29 minutes ago

  • India Today

Putin agrees to explore NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine: Trump envoy

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with his US counterpart Donald Trump that the United States and its European allies could extend NATO-style security guarantees to Ukraine as part of a potential peace agreement, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said on who took part in the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, called the development 'game-changing,' telling CNN's State of the Union: 'We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO."advertisement He added that it 'was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.'Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, also known as the Washington Treaty, is the basis of NATO's principle of collective defence. It states that an armed attack against any of the alliance's 32 members in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them understanding, if carried forward, would mark a major shift in Moscow's stance and provide a possible alternative to Kyiv's long-sought NATO accession, which Putin has firmly of State Marco Rubio, who was also present at the Trump-Putin talks, stressed that details still need to be negotiated. 'How it's structured, what we call it, and what enforceable guarantees are included—that's what we'll be working on this week with our partners,' he also said Russia agreed in principle to legislate against further territorial expansion in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe, pledging not to violate sovereign borders after any peace deal is celebrated the progress in a social media post, writing: 'BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED!'Rubio cautioned that neither side should expect to achieve all of its goals. 'If one side gets everything they want, that's not a peace deal—it's called surrender. And I don't think this is a war that's going to end anytime soon on the basis of surrender,' he told a separate interview with ABC, Rubio warned that if negotiations fail, existing US sanctions on Russia would remain in place and additional measures could be also addressed tensions surrounding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's dealings with Trump. When Zelenskyy visited the White House in February, the talks ended in a heated shouting match. But Rubio rejected the suggestion that European leaders are travelling to Washington this week simply to shield Zelenskyy.'They're not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied,' Rubio told CBS. 'They're coming here tomorrow because we've been working with the Europeans. We invited them to come.'- EndsWith inputs from agenciesMust Watch

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store