European Industry Summit in Antwerp
26 February 2025
Antwerp, Belgium
Industrial Minerals: A Cornerstone of Europe’s Clean Industrial Future
On February 26, 2025, at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the Clean Industrial Deal, a crucial strategy designed to strengthen Europe’s industrial base while advancing sustainability. This initiative directly responds to the Antwerp Declaration, a call from over 1,300 organizations across 25 sectors, urging the EU to secure a competitive and resilient future for European industry and its workers.
Industrial minerals play a vital role in this vision. As essential, responsibly sourced, and proudly made in the EU, they are the foundation of modern life—powering key industries such as construction, glass, ceramics, batteries, and environmental protection. Without industrial minerals, Europe’s ambitions for clean energy, digital innovation, and sustainable mobility would be unattainable.
The Clean Industrial Deal: A Step Forward for European Industry
The Antwerp Declaration, first signed by 73 business leaders across 17 industrial sectors, has now gathered 1,308 signatories, representing over 881 companies and 381 industry associations. Together, they advocate for policies that ensure Europe’s industrial leadership in a rapidly changing global economy.
The Clean Industrial Deal addresses nine out of ten of the key demands put forward in the Antwerp Declaration, focusing on:
- Affordable Energy: Lowering industrial energy costs through the Affordable Energy Action Plan, ensuring European industries have access to sustainable and competitively priced energy.
- Financing the Clean Transition: Mobilizing €100 billion to support clean manufacturing and industrial decarbonization, including the creation of an Industrial Decarbonization Bank.
- Regulatory Simplification: Cutting red tape through the “Simplification Omnibus” initiative, allowing industries to focus on innovation and growth rather than excessive bureaucracy.
Industrial Minerals: The Foundation of Europe’s Future
The Industrial Minerals Association Europe (IMA-Europe) welcomes the recognition that European industry needs targeted support to remain competitive. Industrial minerals are the building blocks of our economy, enabling critical sectors such as steel, glass, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and advanced manufacturing.
- Essential to Sustainability: Industrial minerals are indispensable for green technologies—powering wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, water purification, and carbon capture technologies.
- Proudly European: Responsibly sourced and produced within the EU, industrial minerals ensure that Europe maintains strategic autonomy and reduces reliance on imports.
- Securing Quality Jobs: The industrial minerals sector provides thousands of high-skilled jobs across Europe. Keeping these jobs within the EU is essential to maintaining economic strength and social stability.
A Call for Action
For the Clean Industrial Deal to succeed, Europe must implement policies that actively support industries like industrial minerals, which are essential to both innovation and sustainability. This means ensuring predictable regulation, competitive energy prices, and financial support for decarbonization technologies.
Europe cannot afford to lose its industrial base. We must act now to ensure that Europe remains a global leader in industrial innovation, environmental responsibility, and job security for future generations.
Official photo album from the event: Pictures – European Industry Summit.
