Chemicals: Europe’s Neglected Economic Security Frontier

The European Union has used a series of strategies, laws, and tools to address supply chain resilience. Green tech and critical minerals have been at the core of this effort. But actions to address the chemical supply chains have been slow and late, even though chemicals are key to European resilience and competitiveness as much as critical minerals are. The car parked on your street runs on tires vulcanized with sulfur and reinforced with carbon black. The hospital drip keeping a patient alive is packaged in PVC stabilized with calcium-zinc compounds. Chemicals are not a sector; they are the basis of our societies. And while Europe used to be a leader, its grip on that lead is loosening at a pace that should alarm anyone who thinks seriously about the continent’s economic security.