Success Story: The A.SPIRE Innovation4Competitiveness Vision
On 26 and 27 May 2026 the A.SPIRE community gathered in Brussels.
On 26 May, the A.SPIRE Community and Working Groups Workshop brought together our revamped Advisory and Programming Group (APG) and Working Groups. The focus of the event was theVision and Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for a proposed new Process Industry-led European Partnership (2028–2034).
The day opened with the official APG Chair transition from Mr Sebastian Engell to Mr Patrick Pammer. We extend our sincere gratitude to our outgoing APG Chair and Processes4Planet Partnership Board Co-Chair, Mr Sebastian Engell (TU Dortmund), for his dedication and leadership. At the same time, we are pleased to welcome our new A.SPIRE APG Chair and P4Planet PB Co-Chair, Mr Patrick Pammer, Managing Director of Competence Centre CHASE GmbH.
Our new APG Chair set the tone: we are here because it matters. The Process Industries make modern life possible and sit at the centre of essential value chains. A strong Europe needs strong Process Industries on its territory.
A Vision for Industrial Renaissance: Global Champions Rooted in Europe
Powering global Process Industry leadership in high-value materials & products
Shaping a net-zero & circular future and Europe’s strategic autonomy for all generations
Executive Director Ms Angels Orduna and Mr Pammer then presented the A.SPIRE 2040 Innovation4Competitiveness Vision Process Industries: Global Champions Rooted in Europe.
The Vision is a bold proposal for European industrial renaissance. The European Process Industries are at a tipping point. The risk of industrial decline is no longer hypothetical. It is already unfolding. However, our choice is clear: We choose to lead, compete, innovate and act decisively.
The A.SPIRE 2040 Vision charts the challenges, opportunities and innovation pathways for European Process Industries to compete globally. It sets out three strategic ambitions and five technology innovation (with digital and AI cutting across all five) areas that will drive the transformation of our sectors through the next R&I Partnership (2028-2034) and beyond, positioning the Process Industries as global champions rooted in Europe. The three strategic ambitions of the Vision are: global industrial competitiveness, strategic autonomy of European value chains and innovation-driven sustainability.
Read our full A.SPIRE 2040 Innovation4Competitiveness Vision HERE.
The General Assembly: Members Speak
On 27 May, the A.SPIRE General Assembly opened the day. Our members discussed rising priorities, decisions, and the cross-sectoral strategic direction for the period ahead. The General Assembly concluded with a consultation in which our members shared their thoughts on the future of the Process Industries research and innovation landscape. On what should define European Process Industries in 2040, our members' choices are clear and reflected in our Innovation4Competitiveness Vision: competitive, sustainable, and resilient. Asked about the legacy today's Process Industries should leave for future generations, our members pointed, among other things, to the autonomy of Europe.
The Legacy of Processes4Planet
The General Assembly was followed by an Open Stakeholders Session and another presentation of the A.SPIRE 2040 Vision by Ms Orduna and Mr Pammer. Ms Raquel Torruella Martínez, A.SPIRE's Innovation Manager, spoke about the importance and legacy of the Processes4Planet Partnership. The numbers speak for themselves: a 200-project cross-sectoral innovation portfolio contributing to all the areas identified in the 2050 SRIA, over 650 scientific publications and 500 dissemination events, over 240 jobs created in P4Planet project consortia, and 25 patents submitted with 17 approved.
A Shared Conviction: Process Industries at the Heart of Europe
The session continued with a keynote speech by Mr Cyril Robin-Champigneul, Head of Unit at DG RTD, who spoke about a shared conviction: Europe's Process Industries are an essential backbone of the European economy and of our industrial, economic, and social model, key to both prosperity and security. Mr Robin-Champigneul acknowledged the manifold challenges the Process Industries are facing and noted that the European Commission has adopted a series of strategies and legislative proposals in recent years to address the competitiveness and sustainability of European industries (among them the Competitiveness Compass, the Clean Industrial Deal, and the Industrial Accelerator Act) with further initiatives planned in the coming months.
What these initiatives have in common, he noted, is the acknowledgement of the key role of Research and Innovation and the need for substantial public and private investment to develop and scale clean and competitive future technologies. This is where the experience of the Processes4Planet Partnership and the A.SPIRE Vision for the future are relevant. Mr Robin-Champigneul added that the 2040 Innovation4Competitiveness Vision will be considered very carefully in the context of the Commission proposals for the successor of Horizon Europe – as one important industry voice to inspire the development of work programmes and, possibly (if selected), of a future partnership proposal under the new Horizon Europe that will run from 2028 until 2034.
Leading, Competing, Innovating
The day continued with the first address by Ms Dorota Pawlucka as A.SPIRE's new Chairperson and President. Ms Pawlucka reaffirmed the Industries' choice to lead, compete, innovate, and act decisively, and explained that one of the cornerstones of her Presidency will be the development of a new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, ambitious, cross-sectoral, built for flexibility, and capable of responding to geopolitical and economic shifts as they unfold.
Parallel Workshops
In the second part of the day, the A.SPIRE Stakeholders Parallel Workshops took place, including Integrating industrial electrification in the energy system and supporting its deployment in all European regions (organised by the SET-IndEU project in which A.SPIRE is a consortium partner) and the Final Conference of the Hubs4Circularity Community of Practice, organised by H4C Europe and H4C ECoP (Processes4Planet projects). Keep an eye out on the projects for more information and debriefing.
The A.SPIRE Success Story: a shared Vision, a new leadership in place and a clear direction for the years ahead.
For more information about A.SPIRE, the Processes4Planet Partnership, and the Success Stories, contact the team.
