Current trends and priorities of the European chemical industry’s development: an analytical review

The article highlights the results of analysis of current trends, factors, priority areas and institutional tools for the European chemical industry's development. The relevance of the research topic is due to the importance of finding ways to overcome the inertial scenario of the Ukrainian chemical industry's development, involving the best European experience in innovative modernization and using the institutional instruments for sectoral cooperation with European countries. In this work we study the dynamics and structure of European chemical manufacturing and identify the factors that reduce its global competitiveness. We reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the chemical complexes of the European chemical business' leading countries, as well as the Scandinavian countries and countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Today, a highly qualified workforce, powerful production, transport and logistics infrastructure, advanced technologies, resource and energy efficiency, digitalization, highly developed sectoral innovation ecosystem, integration into global value chains, strong intersectoral and interregional collaboration, and environmental protection are important components of the chemical business' efficiency. We focus on the advantages of the cluster form of chemical production organization and demonstrate the features of its application in various European regions / countries. Our research shows that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is the starting point for most modern chemical innovation and the source of long-term sustainable growth in the chemical sector. In the author's view, it is advisable to look for promising ways of innovative modernization of the Ukrainian chemical industry at the regional level when developing smart specialization strategies, taking into account interregional and intersectoral synergies, as well as the potential of strategic partnership with the European Chemical Regions Network.