Chemicals dip threatens France
4 Jun 2003
The introduction of the European Union's proposed chemicals policy is likely to reduce output, investment and innovation in France, according to Paris-based Mercer Management Consulting.
The chemical sector will bear the brunt of the impact, but the knock-on effect on downstream businesses could severely reduce GDP in France, the consultancy claims.
Mercer's report estimates that after ten years, the chemicals policy will reduce France's GDP by 1.7 to 3.2 per cent. This could leave 360,000 - 670,000 people out of work - up to 2.8 per cent of the country's workforce - and reduce investment by E47billion-88billion. The variance takes into account the inclusion, or not, of intermediate products made and consumed by the fine chemicals sector.
What's more, the report says, the costs of the tests imposed by the White Paper will not fall evenly across the chemicals sector. The cost of tests is higher for substances produced in small quantities, it says, so 74 per cent of the cost will be borne by the fine and speciality sectors, which represent only 21 per cent of turnover for the entire industry.
'The other industrial sectors will be affected either by a passing-on of the chemical industry's costs or by the need to replace substances which are no longer available,' says Mercer's vice president, Olivier Duvall.
