Guidesi: 'Without chemistry, the European economy has no future'

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - "Lombardy is the first manufacturing region in Europe and 98% of manufacturing products are derived from chemistry: restoring centrality to this sector means working for the future of our territory". These are the words of Lombardy Region Councillor for Economic Development Guido Guidesi, taking stock of the Lombardy presidency of the European chemical regions network (Ecrn), the continental alliance of the most representative territories in the sector. At the Ecrn assembly in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Guidesi handed over the presidency to Catalonia and reiterated that 'without chemistry, the European economy has no future. It is our task to continue to support the sector to make it more efficient and sustainable, but it is also our duty to defend its presence and improve the competitiveness of our companies. We have succeeded, through important teamwork, in getting the European Union to pay attention once again to a fundamental sector, which cannot and must not be abandoned'. In this sector, Lombardy is among the top five European regions in terms of the number of employees (45,000) and the third for fine and specialised chemicals for industrial use.

L'assemblea Ecrn a Rotterdam

During the presidency entrusted to Regional Councillor Guido Guidesi, the network has expanded from 10 to 21 members, becoming a direct interlocutor of the European Commission in the tables for the re-launch of the sector and offering companies, at the same time, support in accessing European funding opportunities through participation in 6 EU projects that have generated allocations of around 19 million euros. With the passing of the presidency, Lombardy nevertheless maintains an important role, taking on the vice-presidency of the association with the delegation to the Critical Chemicals Alliance, the working group set up by the European Commission that is contributing to the development and implementation of the European Action Plan for the chemical industry. The aim is to protect competitiveness, investment and production capacity in Lombardy and Europe.

Ecrn comprises 17 regions from 8 states, plus 4 associate members: Drenthe, Groningen, Limburg, Zuid-Holland, Zeeland (The Netherlands), Catalonia (Spain), Flanders (Belgium), Emilia-Romagna, Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria (Germany), Lombardy, Masovia (Poland), Ústí (Czechia), Liguria, Abruzzo, Piedmont, Valencia (Spain); while associate members are Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry (Pipc), Confapi, Hungarian Chemical Industry Association (Mavesz), Green Chemistry Cluster. This European network also coordinates the following EU platforms: Pact for Skills - Regional Skills Partnership; Smart Specialisation Chemical Partnership and S3 Community of Practice. Finally, it is worth mentioning the European projects activated for the sector also through the involvement of Ecrn: Ace-Ex (Erasmus+) for EUR 1,066,838; Syschemiq (Horizon Europe) for EUR 11,450,502; ChemSkills (Erasmus+) for EUR 3,985,110; Drive (Horizon Europe) for EUR 832,400; Hydrogen Skills (Erasmus+) for EUR 250,000; Thermelect (Life) for EUR 1,699,962.