The European Commission is preparing an industrial recovery plan and the forest industries do not wish to be forgotten. In a joint statement, the main forestry sector federations call for the forest industries to be taken into account in this plan. Eustafor, FECOF, FTP, CEPF, COPA-COCEGA, CEI-Bois, EPF, Cepi, Intergraf, EFIC and Bioenergy Europe have thus sent their request to the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.
A 20% drop in turnover by 2020
Like most industries in the EU, the forestry sector has been hard hit by the covid-19 epidemic. "Falling domestic and external demand, disrupted supply chains and logistical problems have taken their toll on our industries, which are expecting a loss of turnover of around 20% in 2020, indicates organizations. Some parts of the ecosystem are more severely affected than others."
However, industry federations believe that the forest industries can recover quickly by moving forward and in line with the objectives of the EU Green Deal. Linked to most other ecosystems, forestry sectors would also help other parts of the EU economy to rebound.
Forestry sectors, ecologically oriented industries
"Including the forest-based industries ecosystem in the European Recovery Plan would be a healthy injection of ecology and resilience into all other ecosystems, as we are linked to renewable energy but also to textiles, construction, food and agriculture, low-carbon manufacturing, green chemicals, health, hygiene, pharmaceuticals and essential packaging solutions", explains Jori Ringman, Managing Director of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (Cepi).
He goes on to say: "Recent announcements of major investments in biorefineries by our member companies are an example of how this ecosystem can give new life to old fossil sectors with renewable materials from sustainable sources in Europe".
20% of Europe's manufacturing sector in the forest industries
Industry points to another argument: one in five manufacturing companies in the EU belongs to the forest industry ecosystem. Forests provide a significant amount of employment well distributed across all countries and regions, including rural areas.
Forest-based industries are home to more than 420,000 enterprises (20% of the EU manufacturing sector), provide 3.5 million direct jobs (10% of the total manufacturing workforce) and generate an annual turnover of ?520 billion or 3% of EU GDP.
