The European Commission has received two conflicting open letters this week, essentially lobbying the bloc's legislature in opposite directions for policy changes for the chemical industry.
One letter, from two NGO coalitions made the call for the EU to finalise and publish its overdue non-toxic environment strategy before the end of the Commissions' term on 31 October 2019. The letter was written on behalf of EDC-Free Europe, a coalition of over 70 NGOs and public interest groups representing environmental, health and human rights issues, and the Green 10, a coalition of ten of the biggest environmental groups and networks active on the European level.
The other letter came from Jim Ratcliffe, the founder and chairman of INEOS Group, a global manufacturer of specialty chemicals, petrochemicals and oil products, with 171 sites operating in 24 countries across the world.
European Commission flags
Photo: Sébastien Bertrand / Flickr Licence: CC BY
The EDC-Free-Green 10 letter, written to Martin Selmayr, the European Commission's secretary general, said that they were "very much concerned" that the end-of-2018 publication deadline for the non-toxic environment strategy had not been respected.
Under the 7th Environmental Action Programme, which steers policy until 2020, the EU executive had a legal obligation to publish the strategy on how it intended to eliminate toxic substances from the environment. The Commission, however, announced in December 2018 that it would be postponed until the new Commission takes office on 1 November 2019.
"As this Commission’s term nears its end, we call on you to have this strategy finalised [and] to bring it out as soon as possible," stated the NGOs' letter. Thus far, the Commission has only published sub-studies of the strategy and a report on main study, but nothing definitive tying them all together.
The letter also called for a priority to eliminate exposure to toxic chemicals and reduce the health impacts by 2030, and to addressing "chemicals of particular concern... such as endocrine disruptors". It also demanded more developed European-wide mandatory information systems, the establishment of a mechanism for consistency and coordination, and the detoxification of material streams from the design stage to legacy.
INEOS Group Chairman, Jim Ratcliffe opened his letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, with the question; "Are you quite mad?". Mr Ratcliffe went on to express his concerns about the future of the chemicals industry in Europe.
In particular, the letter criticised the EU for its green regulations and taxes, arguing for a reduction to sustain competition in the industry.
"Nobody but nobody in my business seriously invests in Europe. They haven’t for a generation. Everyone in my business does however invest in the USA, Middle East or China, or indeed, all three," wrote Mr Ratcliffe.
He went on to say that "Europe is no longer competitive. It has the worlds most expensive energy and labour laws that are uninviting for employers. Worst of all, it has green taxes that, at best, can be described as foolish as they are having the opposite effect to how they were intended."
Pointing out that the global €3.5 trillion chemical industry was sizeably larger than the automative sector and employed over 1 million Europeans directly and 5 million indirectly, he added that "Europe's share of the world chemical market has halved from 30 percent to 15 percent."
INEOS is based in Rolle, Switzerland. The Group announced in January that it was constructing a major ethane gas cracker and PDH unit in Antwerp, Belgium. Mr Ratcliffe said that this investment was only possible because it had access to the company's own "low priced, cost effective" shale gas from the US, and that the EU should not "expect others to follow. They will be welcomed by the USA and China with a warm smile and a good strategy."
The European Commission has yet to comment on either letter.
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