In the pur­suit of long-term growth and glob­al lead­er­ship, Europe is focus­ing on sus­tain­able com­pet­i­tive­ness, eco­nom­ic secu­ri­ty, and strate­gic auton­o­my. A new report, The Future of Euro­pean Com­pet­i­tive­ness, led by Mario Draghi, pro­vides a detailed roadmap for how Euro­pean indus­tries can thrive while address­ing crit­i­cal chal­lenges such as decar­bon­i­sa­tion, inno­va­tion, and reduc­ing depen­den­cies. For the Expand­ed Poly­styrene (EPS) indus­try, the report’s insights offer an essen­tial frame­work for nav­i­gat­ing the evolv­ing mar­ket, enhanc­ing our con­tri­bu­tions to sus­tain­abil­i­ty, and secur­ing our com­pet­i­tive posi­tion in the glob­al econ­o­my. This arti­cle explores the report’s key find­ings and their direct rel­e­vance to the EPS sector.

A Vision for Europe’s Sus­tain­able Competitiveness

Mario Draghi’s report takes a com­pre­hen­sive look at Europe’s future and high­lights three crit­i­cal pil­lars for ensur­ing Europe’s com­pet­i­tive­ness in the glob­al mar­ket: inno­va­tion, decar­bon­i­sa­tion, and resilience. These pil­lars form the back­bone of Europe’s strate­gic vision to main­tain eco­nom­ic lead­er­ship while adapt­ing to glob­al challenges.

The first pil­lar focus­es on clos­ing the inno­va­tion gap. Europe is behind the US and Chi­na in crit­i­cal areas like dig­i­tal­i­sa­tion and advanced tech­nol­o­gy. Draghi high­lights the need to bridge this gap by accel­er­at­ing research and devel­op­ment, fos­ter­ing a cul­ture of com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion, and cre­at­ing a busi­ness envi­ron­ment that nur­tures high-tech sec­tors. The goal is to ensure that Euro­pean busi­ness­es, both large and small, have the infra­struc­ture, cap­i­tal, and sup­port need­ed to inno­vate and grow.

The sec­ond pil­lar is align­ing decar­bon­i­sa­tion with indus­tri­al com­pet­i­tive­ness. Europe’s ambi­tious cli­mate neu­tral­i­ty tar­get by 2050 requires indus­tries to rapid­ly tran­si­tion to more sus­tain­able and ener­gy-effi­cient prac­tices. How­ev­er, Draghi’s report empha­sis­es that decar­bon­i­sa­tion must be done with­out sac­ri­fic­ing com­pet­i­tive­ness. It calls for stronger invest­ment in renew­able ener­gy, inno­v­a­tive low-car­bon tech­nolo­gies, and a reg­u­la­to­ry frame­work that allows busi­ness­es to decar­bonise effi­cient­ly while remain­ing cost-com­pet­i­tive in the glob­al market.

The third pil­lar cen­tres on reduc­ing Europe’s depen­den­cies—par­tic­u­lar­ly in crit­i­cal sup­ply chains like ener­gy, raw mate­ri­als, and tech­nol­o­gy. The report advo­cates for strate­gic auton­o­my, encour­ag­ing Euro­pean indus­tries to reduce reliance on exter­nal sup­pli­ers while build­ing resilient local sup­ply chains. This not only ensures secu­ri­ty but also strength­ens Europe’s abil­i­ty to lead in sec­tors such as clean tech­nol­o­gy and dig­i­tal infrastructure.

The report’s find­ings are par­tic­u­lar­ly rel­e­vant as the Euro­pean Com­mis­sion devel­ops its Clean Indus­tri­al Deal, a plan designed to ensure that Euro­pean indus­tries main­tain their glob­al lead­er­ship while achiev­ing cli­mate and sus­tain­abil­i­ty goals. This vision of a com­pet­i­tive, self-suf­fi­cient, and sus­tain­able Europe sets the tone for the future, and for indus­tries like EPS, it pro­vides a clear frame­work for align­ing busi­ness strat­e­gy with broad­er Euro­pean objectives.

The EPS Indus­try: Key to Europe’s Sus­tain­able and Inno­va­tion Goals

The EPS indus­try is unique­ly posi­tioned to con­tribute to many of the strate­gic goals out­lined in Mario Draghi’s report. EPS, with its wide appli­ca­tion in ener­gy-effi­cient build­ing mate­ri­als and sus­tain­able pack­ag­ing solu­tions, plays a vital role in both the decar­bon­i­sa­tion agen­da and Europe’s cir­cu­lar economy.

Sus­tain­abil­i­ty at the Core: One of the report’s key focus­es is the align­ment between decar­bon­i­sa­tion and com­pet­i­tive­ness, a theme that strong­ly res­onates with the EPS indus­try. As Europe moves toward cli­mate neu­tral­i­ty, the role of EPS in ener­gy-effi­cient con­struc­tion is more cru­cial than ever. EPS prod­ucts, such as insu­la­tion, reduce ener­gy con­sump­tion in build­ings, sig­nif­i­cant­ly con­tribut­ing to the EU’s car­bon reduc­tion goals. This is par­tic­u­lar­ly rel­e­vant under the Euro­pean Per­for­mance of Build­ings Direc­tive (EPBD), which aims to enhance the ener­gy per­for­mance of build­ings across the EU.

Fur­ther­more, EPS is 100% recy­clable, align­ing with Europe’s cir­cu­lar econ­o­my objec­tives. Our indus­try has already made sig­nif­i­cant strides in closed-loop recy­cling process­es, reduc­ing both waste and the need for vir­gin raw mate­ri­als. As Europe pri­ori­tis­es cir­cu­lar­i­ty in man­u­fac­tur­ing, the EPS sector’s abil­i­ty to inno­vate in recy­cling and reuse will be essen­tial. Whether through advances in chem­i­cal recy­cling tech­nolo­gies or the pro­mo­tion of extend­ed pro­duc­er respon­si­bil­i­ty (EPR) schemes, the EPS indus­try is well-placed to con­tin­ue reduc­ing its envi­ron­men­tal footprint.

Com­pet­i­tive Inno­va­tion: The report under­scores the crit­i­cal need for Europe to close its inno­va­tion gap, par­tic­u­lar­ly in advanced tech­nolo­gies. For the EPS indus­try, this call to action is clear: inno­va­tion must be at the heart of our efforts to main­tain com­pet­i­tive­ness. By invest­ing in R&D, we can devel­op new, more sus­tain­able EPS solu­tions that align with mar­ket demand for low-car­bon, eco-friend­ly materials.

For instance, EPS man­u­fac­tur­ers are con­stant­ly try­ing to improve the pro­duc­tion process­es to low­er emis­sions. Addi­tion­al­ly, dig­i­tal­i­sa­tion offers new oppor­tu­ni­ties to stream­line pro­duc­tion and logis­tics, opti­mise sup­ply chains, and improve ener­gy effi­cien­cy. By embrac­ing smart man­u­fac­tur­ing tech­nolo­gies, EPS pro­duc­ers can enhance pro­duc­tiv­i­ty while reduc­ing waste and ener­gy con­sump­tion. This approach aligns with the report’s call for dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion across indus­tries to dri­ve both inno­va­tion and competitiveness.

As Europe advances towards a more dig­i­tal, auto­mat­ed future, the EPS indus­try must con­tin­ue to invest in tech­nolo­gies that not only improve effi­cien­cy but also ensure long-term sus­tain­abil­i­ty. By doing so, we can meet the grow­ing demand for sus­tain­able con­struc­tion mate­ri­als and inno­v­a­tive pack­ag­ing solu­tions, while con­tribut­ing to the broad­er Euro­pean objec­tives of clean growth and innovation.

Resilience and Strate­gic Auton­o­my: Secur­ing the Future for EPS

Anoth­er cen­tral theme of the report is Europe’s need for open strate­gic auton­o­my—the abil­i­ty to remain com­pet­i­tive and con­nect­ed glob­al­ly while reduc­ing depen­den­cies on exter­nal sup­pli­ers. For the EPS indus­try, this is par­tic­u­lar­ly rel­e­vant in terms of secur­ing the raw mate­ri­als nec­es­sary for production.

Raw Mate­r­i­al Sup­ply Chains: EPS man­u­fac­tur­ing relies on key raw mate­ri­als, par­tic­u­lar­ly styrene, which is derived from petro­chem­i­cal process­es. The report stress­es the impor­tance of reduc­ing Europe’s reliance on exter­nal sup­pli­ers for crit­i­cal mate­ri­als. This is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for the EPS indus­try to strength­en its Euro­pean sup­ply chains, and reduce vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties in sourc­ing. By devel­op­ing localised sup­ply chains and invest­ing in raw mate­r­i­al recy­cling process­es, the indus­try can improve resilience and con­tribute to Europe’s goal of strate­gic autonomy.

Col­lab­o­ra­tion for a Stronger Future: The report calls for enhanced col­lab­o­ra­tion across indus­tries, gov­ern­ments, and research insti­tu­tions to tack­le com­mon chal­lenges. For the EPS indus­try, active col­lab­o­ra­tion with pol­i­cy­mak­ers is essen­tial to ensure that future reg­u­la­tions are con­ducive to both sus­tain­abil­i­ty and com­pet­i­tive­ness. By work­ing close­ly with reg­u­la­tors, EPS can remain a key play­er in Europe’s efforts to lead on the glob­al stage, con­tribut­ing to a resilient, low-car­bon, and cir­cu­lar econ­o­my.

Con­clu­sion: The Future of EPS in Europe’s Com­pet­i­tive Landscape

As Europe embarks on its jour­ney towards sus­tain­able pros­per­i­ty, the EPS indus­try stands at the cross­roads of oppor­tu­ni­ty and inno­va­tion. The insights from Mario Draghi’s The Future of Euro­pean Com­pet­i­tive­ness report pro­vide a valu­able frame­work for how our indus­try can align itself with Europe’s broad­er goals of decar­bon­i­sa­tion, inno­va­tion, and resilience.

By embrac­ing sus­tain­abil­i­ty, invest­ing in inno­va­tion, and build­ing more resilient sup­ply chains, the EPS indus­try is not only secur­ing its future but also play­ing a crit­i­cal role in Europe’s path to glob­al com­pet­i­tive­ness. At EUMEPS, we are com­mit­ted to sup­port­ing our mem­bers in nav­i­gat­ing these changes and ensur­ing that EPS con­tin­ues to be a cor­ner­stone of Europe’s indus­tri­al trans­for­ma­tion. Togeth­er, we can build a future where the EPS indus­try thrives in a sus­tain­able, com­pet­i­tive, and resilient Europe.