Trilateral Chemical Region

As Chair of the CCA Working Group 3 on Modernisation and Investments, the TCR coordinated an intensive collaboration between the European Commission, industry, national and regional administrations and civil society organisations. The Charter provides a common European vision on how to secure the future of Europe’s critical chemical value chains.


The Charter comes at a critical moment for Europe’s chemical industry. Production sites across Europe are facing unprecedented competitive pressure driven by high energy costs, global overcapacity, regulatory burdens and growing international competition. At the same time, the sector is expected to deliver substantial investments in decarbonisation, circularity and strategic resilience. 

The Charter is built around three complementary missions: Survive, Modernise and Accelerate. Together, these missions recognise that Europe must simultaneously preserve existing industrial strengths, facilitate investment in current production assets and create the conditions for the next generation of low-carbon and circular chemical production. 


The TCR calls on the European Commission to urgently assess the recommendations of the Working Groups and identify where further refinement or targeted policy action may be appropriate. The TCR supports the importance given to integrated industrial clusters and interconnected value chains, fully acknowledging the importance of these interconnected sites and ecosystems which are a key feature of the chemical industry in the trilateral region. 

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Our Vision

Vision 2030
In a global competitive environment that is changing drastically, the trilateral chemical industry faces fundamental economic, environmental and technological challenges. To prepare for the future, capture the benefits of a growing chemical industry and remove existing bottlenecks for this development, an important strategic process had been launched in 2017. North Rhine-Westphalia, the Netherlands and Flanders agreed on a joint vision on the future development of their flagship industry – the chemical industry. 
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Our Initiative

Trilog Chair 2025 - Flanders

The initiative is coordinated by a Trilog chair region with a rotating one year term. The chair is currently held by The Netherlands.

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"Europe’s industrial future will be defined by how well we collaborate across borders, connect innovation ecosystems, and accelerate the transition toward sustainable and competitive production. The Trilateral Chemical Region demonstrates that when industry, knowledge institutions and governments move together with a shared ambition, we can strengthen both our competitiveness and our responsibility to future generations." 

Mark Schmets

chair of the Steering Committee

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, The Netherlands   



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Our Region

Heart of EU chemical Industry

Heart of EU chemical Industry

The trilateral region of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands is home to one of the most powerful clusters of the chemical industry in the world. Key facts: 350.000 direct jobs and 180 billion EUR turnover.
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