“We must get better at nurturing our own industry, that is necessary for the clean transition: from hydrogen to chemicals, from biotech to nanotech.” Europees Commissievoorzitter Ursula von der Leyen sprak vorige week klare taal tijdens het ‘Future of Europe’ evenement, een organisatie van Mediafin. Enkele opvallende citaten uit haar toespraak:
“The port of Antwerp-Bruges is the largest cluster of the chemical industry in Europe, and the second largest worldwide. To reach net zero – our goal – we need our chemicals industry on board, and competitive. Since 1990, Europe increased the chemical production by nearly 50%. At the same time, greenhouse gas emission in that sector decreased by over 50%. This is clean innovation – made in Belgium – that we need to keep in Europe. You are also building a new Biotech Campus in Charleroi to offer vocational training in a cutting-edge sector. That is exactly what we need. Highly skilled workers are the key to our global competitiveness.”
