João de Mello and 400 European leaders call for urgent implementation of the Clean Industrial Deal

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with more than 400 business leaders in Antwerp to discuss the Clean Industrial Deal. The leaders called on heads of state to implement it urgently.

Ilham Kadri, President of ICCA and Cefic, and CEO of Syensqo, said: “We appreciate that the Commission President took the time to join us in Antwerp today to present the Clean Industrial Deal. Nine out of ten of the calls of the Antwerp Declaration have been answered. We need to transform Europe’s ambition to ‘be’ into a determination to ‘do’. Every day, Europe is falling behind and losing quality jobs. In these turbulent times, we need strong action from European leaders.”

European industries are currently facing historic challenges, with demand declining, investment stagnating, reduced capacity and gas prices in the European Union (EU) four to five times higher than those of their competitors.

Last year, production in the European industrial sector fell by 2.6%.

A year ago, 73 leaders presented the Antwerp Declaration to the Commission President to address the challenges facing the sector. The declaration sets out ten concrete actions to “restore business confidence for investment, implement Europe’s sustainability ambitions and safeguard quality jobs in Europe”.

Marco Mensink, Director General of Cefic, said: “When reading the Clean Industrial Deal, we need the Commission to focus, to prioritise the three key actions that will improve our situation already this year and to put all the power, boldness and courage of the European Commission behind them.”

Portugal is also in favor of this transformation of the industry, with João de Mello, CEO of Bondalti, stating that “the Clean Industrial Deal is the European Commission's response to the Antwerp Declaration of 2024. It creates a more favorable framework for investment, promotes competitiveness, namely access to competitive electricity, and the reduction of bureaucracy, protects highly qualified employment and develops the industry, in particular electro-intensive industries such as the chemical industry”.

“In Portugal, the chemical industry plays a very important role in the economy, accounting for €1.6 billion in GVA, 12% of national exports and more than 50,000 jobs. Now is the time to move from words to action, because there are not many possible solutions: either we have the courage to follow the right path, or we will have to live with the inexorable consequences of decline,” says Bondalti’s CEO.