Eurogypsum supports a Clean Industrial Deal which promotes European industries’ competitiveness and accelerates decarbonisation, and calls for further attention to buildings’ construction and renovation.
26.02.2025
Today, the European Commission unveiled its Clean Industrial Deal, which aims to help industry regain competitiveness while decarbonising. Eurogypsum, the organisation representing European plaster and plasterboard product industries, welcomes the objective of enabling European businesses to operate and remain competitive in a particularly challenging economic period, and supporting them on the way to decarbonisation.
In a context marked by high geopolitical uncertainties, promoting European manufacturing can be a powerful driver for Europe’s strategic autonomy. Referring to current practices in the European gypsum industry, Eurogypsum’s Secretary General Tristan Suffys said: “We have European companies sourcing minerals from Europe, producing building materials “made in Europe”, constructing and renovating buildings locally. Public procurement and other policy tools such as the “lead markets” could certainly reinforce our economies and secure jobs in Europe.”
The Clean Industrial Deal duly recognises the importance of a safe supply of raw materials but fails short of addressing essential materials for construction and infrastructure. “We should not wait until the supply of essential materials like gypsum becomes critical before acting. A determined policy is needed to further deploy industry recycling schemes and secure the domestic supply of such minerals in the long term”, said Suffys. “This is not only about the price of today’s and tomorrow’s buildings and their affordability to citizens, but also about avoiding new dependencies on third countries”, he added.
Gypsum manufacturing already has a low carbon footprint in Europe and is gradually decarbonising its operations, which will require the electrification of processes. Therefore, Eurogypsum welcomes the simultaneous presentation today of a plan on affordable energy. Commenting on the plan, Tristan Suffys said: “Access to affordable green energy and support for transformation are indispensable to decarbonise European industries. This is not only true for “hard to abate” sectors. For industries like the European gypsum sector, where electrification solutions already exist today, supportive measures can speed up the achievement of Europe’s climate goals. This is all the more relevant as Europe is considering emissions’ reduction by 2040.”
While many industrial sectors are considered in the Clean Industrial Deal, Eurogypsum regrets the low importance dedicated to energy efficiency in buildings. “We believe greater attention would be needed to the construction sector, which accounts for 10% of Europe’s GDP. Promoting demand for building renovation and increasing these industries’ competitiveness can have a great impact on Europe’s economies, our jobs, but also help on Europeans’ energy bills and their quality of life”, said Suffys. “Reducing energy demand in buildings is also a good way to remove some of the pressure for new energy capacity”, he added.
Eurogypsum looks forward to cooperating with policymakers and other stakeholders to make this Clean Industrial Deal a true enabler for change.