Tune to compete

As a signatory of the Antwerp Declaration for a European Industrial Deal, IFRA calls upon the introduction of this Industrial Deal at the core of the new European Strategic Agenda for 2024-2029. A comprehensive action plan should be established to elevate competitiveness as a strategic priority and create the conditions for a stronger business case in Europe.

To accelerate the green transformation and strengthen the industry’s resilience, IFRA calls for legislation creating an enabling framework for sustainable innovation. This would require that European ambitions leverage sectoral initiatives, avoiding overly prescriptive and detailed implementing regulations. This is critical for the competitiveness of companies of all sizes, and prevents over reporting, ensures coherence and stays tuned with sector-specific industrial realities.

Such a setup would make legislation clearer and easier to follow for fragrance companies and regulators alike, open up opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses, and keep consumers and the environment safe.

In this regard, IFRA supports the ongoing European Commission Transition Pathway for the Chemical Industry and has responded to the Call for Transition Initiatives. Our shared goal is to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, increase its resilience in the face of changing geopolitical landscape while supporting investment in safe and sustainable chemicals.

On the latter and given its established foundation of knowledge and expertise on safety and sustainability, IFRA actively supports, and contributes to, the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) European Framework. 

Encouraged by the European Commissions’ Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, IFRA introduced the fragrance value chain as one of the seven strategic value chains within the EU-funded SSbD network (the IRISS project). IFRA is currently designing and contributing to the platform via the submission of a specific case study on SSbD.