Validation Workshop for Study on the Cumulative Cost Assessment for the EU Chemical Industry

Validation Workshop for Study on the Cumulative Cost Assessment for the EU Chemical Industry - 21 September 2015 (9:30-17:00)

Background

DG Growth is conducting a study on the Cumulative Cost Assessment for the EU chemical Industry. The study is being carried out by the contractor Technopolis Group, under the specific contract no. 30-CE-0658657/00-88, Framework Contract no. ENTR/172/PP/2012/FC - LOT 4.

The study is part of the Commission Work Programme for 2015, as a follow-up to the Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) Communication, published in October 2013 (COM(2013) 685 final), which lists under the title "Fitness Checks, Cumulative Cost Assessments and Evaluations planned" inter alia the Cumulative Cost Assessment for the chemical industry.

The Industrial Policy Communication published on 22 January 2014 specifies that a cumulative cost assessment will be launched, to assess the cumulative costs of EU policies and regulatory requirements on the competitiveness of the EU chemical industry.

Description

The EU chemical industry faces many challenges that have an impact on its competitiveness, such as the cost and availability of inputs (raw materials or energy); environmental, health and safety regulations; as well as competition from third country producers. The aim of this study is to analyse cumulative cost effects of the most relevant EU legislation on the chemical industry. The study will identify and quantify regulatory costs, both direct and indirect, which specifically affect the EU chemical industry. The analysed EU legislation includes chemical legislation; industrial emissions and process legislation; workers safety legislation; customs and trade legislation;  transport legislation and consumer safety legislation.

Event

The study on the Cumulative Cost Assessment for the EU Chemical Industry was launched in July 2014,  for  a period of 15 months. As specified in the Terms of Reference, a Validation Workshop will be organised by the Commission so as to enable all interested stakeholders and the Commission services to provide their final comments and contribute to the robustness test, which will be carried out on the results of the study.

Main objectives of the validation workshop

• A peer review of the study prior to its publication: independent external experts will present their views on the validity of the methodology, the collection of cost data and on the final results for further discussion;

• Open discussion on the key findings of the study, aimed at verifying the robustness of the results of the study;

• First orientations on how to interpret the results of the study in view of the competitiveness of the European chemical industry.

Who will attend?

DG Growth with the contractor Technopolis Group;  interested stakeholders (industry representatives from chemical and related sectors; Member States; NGOs; academia; trade unions; research institutes…) and other Commission Directorates General (DG Environment, DG Climate Action, Secretariat General, DG Energy, DG Employment, DG Research and Innovation, DG Trade, JRC Petten, JRC Seville, EUROSTAT), Agencies (ECHA Helsinki…) who were engaged in the study process by being active in the so-called inter-service Steering group.  Around 60 participants are expected.

Structure of the workshop

The main focus will be on the discussion and validation of the preliminary results of the study on regulatory costs, based on feedback from chemical companies, within the different subsectors of the chemical industry.

The contractor will present the overall methodology, including how the data on the costs has been collected and validated. They will also present the preliminary conclusions of this analysis. Participants will have the opportunity to express their views on the results. The workshop will be organised in three sessions, based on introductory remarks from the contractor and a ‘peer-reviewer’.

A discussion document with preliminary findings and results will be uploaded in advance under “Relevant Documents” on this site.

Lunch

Sandwich lunch incl. dessert will be served. Coffee and water will be available during the workshop.

Registration

If you want to attend this meeting, please click on "Register" and indicate your own/individual e-mail address in the box opening. During a first time registration for the system, an individual user account will be created, based on the e-mail address. After registration, please await the final confirmation of your participation from the Commission. Please register latest on 10 September 2015.

Please note that the Commission does not reimburse any travel or other expenses for this type of events unless upon invitation of the Commission to an individual expert to present a cost estimate for requested service. In case of any doubt, contact GROW-D2@ec.europa.eu