The KETs Manifesto

With a new intake of MEPs at the European Parliament and Team Junckers in the process of confirmation as the new European Commission, the High Level Expert Group on Key Enabling Technologies (HLG KETs) has launched a new manifesto. The document underlines the vital role of KETs as the cornerstone of a European industrial renaissance.

The members of the HLG, including SusChem representatives, see an integrated KETs-based industrial policy as an essential element to enable the re-industrialisation of Europe.

The KETs Manifesto calls on politicians and policy-makers to support KETs and give a high priority to an integrated KETs innovation and manufacturing policy that can stimulate jobs and growth in the European Union. The document states that a market pull can be created by ensuring a systematic use of EU KETs to meet Europe’s societal challenges including the use of public procurement to accelerate market uptake.

Policies are needed that increase the confidence of both the public and investors in new technologies and that address barriers to investment and implementation. Similarly policies must support the reduction of the skills gap in KETs-related industrial sectors in Europe.

Policy-makers are also called upon to support large-scale manufacturing initiatives undertaken in strategic European industrial domains.

Call for success
“We are calling on MEPs and all European policy-makers to give their full support to ensure the success of Europe’s industry, today and tomorrow,” said Dr. Gernot Klotz, SusChem board member and a member of the HLG.

KETs support the drive for jobs and growth in Europe. The global market volume for KETs-based products will be € 1000 billion by 2015 and could grow between 10 and 20% in the following decade.

Europe’s target of manufacturing achieving a 20% share of the EU’s total GDP by 2020 can only be achieved through a comprehensive development and deployment of KETs.

What are KETs?
Six KETs have been defined:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Advanced Materials
• Industrial Biotechnology
• Micro-Nanoelectronics
• Nanotechnology
• Photonics

These are all areas where SusChem has an active research and innovation agenda and a contribution to make and the chemicals sector enjoys a unique position in European industry able to deploy KETs into the products society needs and uses on a daily basis.

The selected KETs are areas where Europe has a strong knowledge base but needs to accelerate the translation of this world-beating knowledge into innovative products and service.

This means that Europe must continue the process of rebalancing policies towards enhanced technological research and innovation and must invest in KETs to boost Europe’s competitiveness and accelerate our industrial manufacturing renaissance.

The HLG KETs was initiated by the European Commission and includes representatives from key actors along strategic European value chains. You can find more information here.