A briefing note signed by seven European member states (Czechia, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain) during the Competitiveness Council on 12 March 2025 underlines the major crisis affecting the European chemical industry. The increase in energy costs and competition from non-EU countries resulted in a 12% drop in production between 2019 and 2023. Twenty steam crackers may be shut down by 2035, possibly affecting 50,000 jobs in the petrochemistry sector. The non-paper presents the rationale for a “Critical Chemicals Act” to be issued by the European Commission, focused on a list of about fifteen strategic molecules that are key for preserving the resilience of Europe.
These include petrol derivatives (etilene, propilene, butadiene and benzene), natural gas derivatives (methanol and ammonia), inorganic molecules (chlorine, sodium hydroxide, sulfur, silicon, sodium carbonates, hydrofluoric acid) as well as the two aminoacids lysine and methionine. The Critical Chemicals Act would provide support schemes dedicated to chemical plants that require decarbonisation and modernisation investments and encourage transformation of the chemical industry and disruptive innovation, particularly in the development of low-carbon molecules.