The CEO of a major Belgian construction company has warned that Belgium and indeed Europe as a whole are at "real risk of deindustrialisation" due to Europe's soaring energy costs and the protectionist legislation recently passed by the US.
In an interview with l'Echo, Etex CEO Bernard Delvaux claimed that there is a "real worry" of numerous energy-intensive businesses going bankrupt in the near future if appropriate government aid is not forthcoming, and suggested that without urgent government intervention an increasing number of European companies will likely relocate to the US or Asia to take advantage of lower energy costs — a possibility he described as "very dangerous for Europe".
"What is very disturbing is that while in Europe, the [energy] price remains three or four times that of before [the energy crisis], the United States has only had a 20% increase in the cost of energy, and Asia even less," Delvaux said.
Delvaux also heavily criticised the tendency of several European countries to "go it alone" in their attempts to cope with Europe's energy crisis, and specifically condemned France's unilateral decision to cap energy prices as well as Germany's commitment to spend €200 billion to protect its own industry and citizenry.
One immediate short-term measure advocated by Delvaux, however, is the introduction of an energy price cap.
He added: "In the absence of a European solution, we must take our fate into our own hands, and create the conditions for Belgian industry to remain competitive. I understand that we have to help the citizens, and therefore automatic indexation for low and medium salaries goes without saying."
"But we must prevent companies that may be generating a lot of activity and a lot of jobs from leaving us. Because if they do, they will do it quickly, and they will take one or two generations to come back — if they come back."