174-597: The North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is an economic cluster developed in accordance with Michael Porter 's theories and strategies regarding industrial clusters. The chemistry-using sectors in North East England , where more than 1,400 businesses are headquartered in the industry's supply chain, formed this Process Industry Cluster. In the north-east of England, the industry employs approximately 35,000 direct workers and around 190,000 indirect workers, who collectively account for more than one-third of
348-466: A "political industry", that competes in ways that serve the parties' interests rather than the public good. Gehl and Porter published a Harvard Business School report on the topic, "Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America" (2017), and later a book, The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democrac y (2020). In 2000, Michael Porter
522-656: A European customs union for the struggling post-war European economies, and in 1923 the oldest organisation for European integration, the Paneuropean Union was founded, led by Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi , who later would found in June 1947 the European Parliamentary Union (EPU). Aristide Briand —who was Prime Minister of France , a follower of the Paneuropean Union, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate for
696-639: A proposal that linked funding with adherence to the rule of law . The budget included a COVID-19 recovery fund of €750 billion. The budget may still be approved if Hungary and Poland withdraw their vetoes after further negotiations in the council and the European Council . Bodies combatting fraud have also been established, including the European Anti-fraud Office and the European Public Prosecutor's Office . The latter
870-518: A " collective head of state " and ratifies important documents (for example, international agreements and treaties). Tasks for the president of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU, driving consensus and resolving divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them. The European Council should not be mistaken for
1044-593: A 2010 interview: "What I've come to see as probably my greatest gift is the ability to take an extraordinarily complex, integrated, multidimensional problem and get arms around it conceptually in a way that helps, that informs and empowers practitioners to actually do things." European Union in Europe (dark grey) The European Union ( EU ) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The Union has
1218-528: A BSE with high honors in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Princeton University in 1969, where he graduated first in his class and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi . He received an MBA with high distinction in 1971 from Harvard Business School (HBS), where he was a George F. Baker Scholar, and a PhD in business economics from Harvard University in 1973. Porter credits Harvard professor Roland "Chris" Christensen with inspiring him and encouraging him to speak up during class. Porter reached
1392-536: A Cluster body is measured in terms of economic development within its region. This is monitored by its Industry Leadership Council and public sector observers through key performance indicators (KPIs). These mostly relate to the cluster's results in attracting and assisting both indigenous and foreign direct investment (FDI) investment, as well as business growth in the local SME supply chain and any resulting job creation. These factors contribute to an overall performance measure of Gross Value Added (GVA). Results from
1566-587: A broad forum to further cooperation and shared issues, achieving for example the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950. Essential for the actual birth of the institutions of the EU was the Schuman Declaration on 9 May 1950 (the day after the fifth Victory in Europe Day ) and the decision by six nations (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, West Germany and Italy) to follow Schuman and draft
1740-428: A consultant to many governments and NGOs devising strategy formulations. Porter is the author of 20 books and numerous articles including Competitive Strategy , Competitive Advantage , Competitive Advantage of Nations , and On Competition , and is the most cited author in business and economics. Porter wrote The Competitive Advantage of Nations in 1990. The book is based on studies of ten nations and argues that
1914-449: A joint inter-cluster projects in areas such as technology and industrial partnerships, training & skills development, technology transfer, workforce and business mobility and business mentoring. NEPIC and the other Clusters involved have undertaken joint market visits to Japan, USA, Korea, Brazil, and India to promote the EU process industries while focusing on fast growing lead markets such as clean technology. The LOCIMAP collaboration on
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#17328518668122088-580: A jointly owned subsidiary company Go Global Limited to manage the contract they had to deliver the United Kingdom Trade & Investment (UKTI) (2016 onwards UKTI became the Department for International Trade – DIT), Government funded, support products and programme for all business sectors in their region. The UKTI business support products, to help grow international trade, are aimed at supporting individual SMEs to grow their exports and they also support
2262-578: A key partner of the Indian Chemical Council (ICC) helping to define the agenda for their Annual Outlook Conference. The 2017 NEPIC led and UK Department for International Trade (DIT) trade mission to India had grown to include 21 business delegates who travelled to Bangalore , Pune and Mumbai meeting companies the company members of the Karnataka Drug and Pharmaceutical Association (KDPMA), Tata Research Development and Design Centre and
2436-525: A key to national wealth and advantage was the productivity of firms and workers collectively, and that the national and regional environment supports that productivity. He proposed the "diamond" framework, a mutually-reinforcing system of four factors that determine national advantage: factor conditions; demand conditions; related or supporting industries; and firm strategy, structure and rivalry. Information, incentives, and infrastructure were also key to that productivity. During April 2014, Porter discussed how
2610-508: A licence in the UK to perform research on stem cells and this is a leading centre for such research today. Indeed Karim Nayernia was the first to isolate spermatogonial stem cells at this University. Many new healthcare developments have arisen from this research work. Industrial drug development continues at ARCINOVA in Alnwick. Small molecule drug scale-up and process development and manufacture
2784-559: A lower carbon future for the sector collaborate through the NEPIC Clusters Bioresources Collaborative Thrust Team. The Cluster's growing strength in low carbon, sustainable industry has gained national recognition. The drive to industrialise biorefinery technologies within the NEPIC Cluster is mostly aimed at reducing carbon emissions or at making manufacturing more sustainable by counterbalancing
2958-618: A mandatory requirement to supply their carbon footprints on an annual basis. NEPIC's scheme called Developing Low Carbon Sustainable Industry (DEELOCSI) receives financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union. To further encourage SMEs in the north-east of England to Export, NEPIC collaborated with the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) and RTC North Limited to create
3132-437: A model to analyse the industry and to estimate whether it would be profitable and ideal enough to enter the industry after carefully examining the bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new entrants, competition among existing firms and threat of substitutes. He first wrote and published about Porter's Five Forces in a 1979 article How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy and has further explained about
3306-485: A permanent president of the European Council , the first of which was Herman Van Rompuy , and strengthened the position of the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy . In 2012, the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe". In 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU member. From
3480-534: A pooled military aid package to Ukraine for lethal weapons funded via the European Peace Facility off-budget instrument. Next Generation EU ( NGEU ) is a European Commission economic recovery package to support the EU member states to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic , in particular those that have been particularly hard hit. It is sometimes styled NextGenerationEU and Next Gen EU , and also called
3654-455: A possibility of strong changes in the 2024 elections. Since the end of World War II , sovereign European countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (or pooled sovereignty ) in an increasing number of areas, in the European integration project or the construction of Europe ( French : la construction européenne ). The following timeline outlines
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#17328518668123828-678: A post-war world and Europe increasingly became a part of the agenda. This led to a decision at the Yalta Conference in 1944 to form a European Advisory Commission , later replaced by the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Allied Control Council , following the German surrender and the Potsdam Agreement in 1945. By the end of the war, European integration became seen as an antidote to
4002-594: A right of unilateral withdrawal under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. In addition, the principle of subsidiarity requires that only those matters that need to be determined collectively are so determined. Under the principle of supremacy , national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions. The direct effect and supremacy doctrines were not explicitly set out in
4176-642: A set number of seats and is divided into sub-national constituencies where this does not affect the proportional nature of the voting system. In the ordinary legislative procedure , the European Commission proposes legislation, which requires the joint approval of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to pass. This process applies to nearly all areas, including the EU budget . The parliament
4350-551: A total area of 4,233,255 km (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 449 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation . Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$ 16.6 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP . Additionally, all EU states except Bulgaria have
4524-589: A very high Human Development Index according to the United Nations Development Programme . Its cornerstone, the Customs Union , paved the way to establishing an internal single market based on standardised legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within
4698-642: Is a decentralized independent body of the European Union (EU), established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 22 of the 27 states of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation . The European Public Prosecutor's Office investigate and prosecute fraud against the budget of the European Union and other crimes against the EU's financial interests including fraud concerning EU funds of over €10,000 and cross-border VAT fraud cases involving damages above €10 million. Member states retain in principle all powers except those that they have agreed collectively to delegate to
4872-435: Is also regarded as one of the world's most influential thinkers on management and competitiveness as well as one of the most influential business strategists. His work has been recognized by governments, non-governmental organizations and universities. Michael Porter's father was a civil engineer and Georgia Tech graduate who had also gone on to a career as an army officer. During Porter's childhood, his family moved around
5046-557: Is also well established in the region. The manufacturers of the food protein Quorn, Marlow Foods, now part of Premier Foods , developed their technology here and still operate in this region. Northumbrian Water has invested in two large scale anaerobic digestion facilities to recover energy from their domestic and industrial waste water streams. In Stockton-on-Tees , Cleveland Biotechnology has been pioneering natural solutions to handling effluents and waste materials. In Billingham , Biochemica
5220-407: Is an American businessman and professor at Harvard Business School . He was one of the founders of the consulting firm The Monitor Group (now part of Deloitte ) and FSG, a social impact consultancy. He is credited with creating Porter's five forces analysis , which is instrumental in business strategy development at present. He is generally regarded as the father of the modern strategy field. He
5394-478: Is applying new biotechnology solutions to industrial water treatment. Biotechnology is also being applied to manufacture polymers by Plaxica and functional resins by Cambridge Biopolymers. Several of the Cluster's Fine and Specialty chemical companies are utilising enzymatic transformations in their manufacturing processes. Developments such as these are being supported by The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) which hosts
North East of England Process Industry Cluster - Misplaced Pages Continue
5568-430: Is asserted that Porter fails to credit original creators of his postulates originating from pure microeconomic theory. He has written numerous books on modern competitive strategy for business. His concepts and theories with regards to strategic management, such as Porter's Five Forces, Porter's Diamond model , Porter's Generic Strategies and Porter's Value Chain, are widely taught in universities. Porter stated in
5742-618: Is based in Kirchberg, Luxembourg City alongside the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Auditors. Constitutionally, the EU bears some resemblance to both a confederation and a federation , but has not formally defined itself as either. (It does not have a formal constitution: its status is defined by the Treaty of European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of
5916-461: Is because competition between clusters has increased and rival locations are vying for any new investment in their sectors. It is this that pressurises Cluster organisations to meet the best practice of clusters in other regions. Such competition has driven clusters to become more specialised and there is now much more differentiation, for example, some clusters are R&D Hubs while others focus on manufacturing or are service orientated. Ketels' premise
6090-614: Is being developed and shared. On some occasions NEPIC participates in the role as project leader/manager and in others as a partner organisation. An example of a Cluster collaboration in which NEPIC is a partner is the WIINTECH project, a worldwide intercluster initiative for new materials and processes focused on clean technologies. This collaborative project is aimed at building a common international strategy between 8 leading European clusters and to foster inter-cluster and transnational partnerships, extending international cooperation and developing
6264-463: Is inconsistent with EU law. It is not possible to appeal against the decisions of national courts in the CJEU, but rather national courts refer questions of EU law to the CJEU. However, it is ultimately for the national court to apply the resulting interpretation to the facts of any given case. Although, only courts of final appeal are bound to refer a question of EU law when one is addressed. The treaties give
6438-529: Is integrated into the existing chemical processes on the Wilton Chemical Site. A number of other biomass and waste to energy plants are in development within the Cluster such as Wilton 11 and MGT Power are building their Teesport Renewable Energy Plant . SITA already operate an energy from waste unit in Middlesbrough. Many of the Cluster companies working on Renewables and Bioresources projects to develop
6612-594: Is organised as a directorial system , where the executive power is jointly exercised by several people. The executive branch consists of the European Council and European Commission. The European Council sets the broad political direction of the Union. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the president of the European Council (presently Charles Michel ), the president of the European Commission and one representative per member state (either its head of state or head of government ). The high representative of
6786-506: Is provided by companies such as Banner Chemicals, MP Storage and Exwold who also all operate Teesside facilities. Throughout the whole region Northumbrian Water can provide bulk water and also waste water treatment facilities to the all sectors of the process industry. The region is self-sufficient in water and can allocate industrial quantities to new investors due to the development of the Kielder Reservoir . Polymer manufacturing in
6960-755: Is provided to current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) standards to pharmaceutical companies around the world by several NEPIC Cluster members such as Aesica Pharmaceuticals, Sterling Pharma Solutions, Piramal Healthcare, all of which are based in Northumberland and also by Fine Organics on Teesside . Aesica, Sterling, Piramal (Northumberland) are companies that perform primary manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to cGMP standards. While Aesica, Piramal, MSD (Northumberland), Sanofi (Tyne & Wear), GlaxoSmithKline , Quantum Pharmaceuticals and Bristol Laboratories in (County Durham) are all secondary pharmaceutical manufacturers with large facilities in
7134-550: Is regulated to try to balance the aspirations of private initiatives with public interest decision-making process. The European Union had an agreed budget of €170.6 billion in 2022. The EU had a long-term budget of €1,082.5 billion for the period 2014–2020, representing 1.02% of the EU-28's GNI. In 1960, the budget of the European Community was 0.03 per cent of GDP. Of this, €54bn subsidised agriculture enterprise , €42bn
North East of England Process Industry Cluster - Misplaced Pages Continue
7308-447: Is that this increasing level of specialisation has increased linkages between cluster bodies and that the ability of the cluster management teams to make such linkages and partnerships has become an important key strength. In the past, Ketels suggests, clusters were like islands competing with each other whereas now they are part of Global supply chains often competing and co-operating at the same time. Ketels' observations are borne out by
7482-502: Is the final body to approve or reject the proposed membership of the commission, and can attempt motions of censure on the commission by appeal to the Court of Justice . The president of the European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in Parliament and represents it externally. The president and vice-presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years. The judicial branch of
7656-485: Is then able to recruit staff from among the pool of candidates selected by EPSO. On average, EPSO receives around 60,000–70,000 applications a year with around 1,500–2,000 candidates recruited by the European Union institutions. The European Ombudsman is the ombudsman branch of the European Union that holds the institutions, bodies and agencies of the EU to account, and promotes good administration. The Ombudsman helps people, businesses and organisations facing problems with
7830-676: Is to become the CEO of NEPIC. The Industry Leadership Council of NEPIC regularly revisits the Cluster's Strategy for Growth, after first publishing it in 2006. NEPIC and the Industrialists concerned were commended for this work in the UK Parliament. The NEPIC Strategy is published and approved at the organisation's Annual General Meeting (AGM). The most recent strategy was published in December 2012. NEPIC's overall performance against its strategy and as
8004-800: Is to develop formal Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs)with industry clusters and business associations around the world and build partnerships to create knowledge sharing opportunities. In Europe, NEPIC has projects and agreements with the following Cluster bodies: Axelera, and through the WIINTECH consortium, Plastipolis in France, Proplast in Italy, Chemie-Cluster Bayern (CCB) in Germany, Clusterland in Austria, Plastival in Spain, Veneto Nanotech in Italy and Poolnet in Portugal. In India, with
8178-454: Is when a business provides the same products and services as its competitors, albeit at a lesser cost. Differentiation advantage is when a business provides better products and services as its competitors. In Porter's view, strategic management should be concerned with building and sustaining competitive advantage. He originally developed the Porter's Five Forces in 1979 which is still widely used as
8352-674: The Common Foreign and Security Policy , the union has developed a role in external relations and defence . It maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations , the World Trade Organization , the G7 and the G20 . Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some scholars as an emerging superpower . The EU
8526-658: The Council of Europe , an international organisation independent of the EU and based in Strasbourg. The European Commission acts both as the EU's executive arm , responsible for the day-to-day running of the EU, and also the legislative initiator , with the sole power to propose laws for debate. The commission is 'guardian of the Treaties' and is responsible for their efficient operation and policing. It has 27 European commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state, though commissioners are bound to represent
8700-531: The Court of Justice of the European Union , the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors . Competence in scrutinising and amending legislation is shared between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, while executive tasks are performed by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of
8874-711: The Declaration of St James's Palace of 1941, when Europe's resistance gathered in London. This was expanded on by the 1941 Atlantic Charter , establishing the Allies and their common goals, inciting a new wave of global international institutions like the United Nations ( founded 1945 ) or the Bretton Woods System (1944). In 1943 at the Moscow Conference and Tehran Conference , plans to establish joint institutions for
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#17328518668129048-557: The Department for International Trade (DIT) (formerly UK Trade and Investment (UKTI)) arm of the UK Government as a leading location in the UK for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the chemistry using industries. NEPIC is led by industry through its Industry Leadership Team. These industry leaders at intervals of their choosing elect a person to be the Chair of NEPIC. Since its inception
9222-475: The Durham Coalfield and companies are developing plans to exploit this using modern clean technologies for underground coal gasification (UCG). Linking technologies for UGC or other gas extraction from local coalfields to carbon dioxide capture technologies like those described in the "Teesside Collective Project" gives rise to the prospect of "Clean Coal" as a source of raw materials for the chemical sector in
9396-498: The European Union Recovery Instrument . Agreed in principle by the European Council on 21 July 2020 and adopted on 14 December 2020, the instrument is worth € 750 billion . NGEU will operate from 2021 to 2026, and will be tied to the regular 2021–2027 budget of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The comprehensive NGEU and MFF packages are projected to reach €1824.3 billion. Preparing
9570-615: The French Union was installed by the new Fourth French Republic to direct the decolonization of its colonies so that they would become parts of a European community. By 1947 a growing rift between the western Allied Powers and the Soviet Union became evident as a result of the rigged 1947 Polish legislative election , which constituted an open breach of the Yalta Agreement . March of that year saw two important developments. First
9744-471: The Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health . Porter acting as a consultant to business, government, and the social sector . He has been a strategy advisor to US and international companies, including Caterpillar , Procter & Gamble , Scotts Miracle-Gro , Royal Dutch Shell , and Taiwan Semiconductor . The Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración of Venezuela
9918-555: The Locarno Treaties —delivered a widely recognized speech at the League of Nations in Geneva on 5 September 1929 for a federal Europe to secure Europe and settle the historic Franco-German enmity . With large-scale war being waged in Europe once again in the 1930s and becoming World War II , the question of what to fight against and what for, had to be agreed on. A first agreement was
10092-658: The River Tees and is currently the third largest port in the United Kingdom, and amongst the ten biggest in Western Europe. This port handles over 56 million tonnes of goods per annum which are mainly associated with the local petrochemical, chemical and steel processing industries. The port is important infrastructure for the NEPIC cluster of process companies. The larger, and in a number of instances, integrated chemical producers in
10266-448: The Treaty of Brussels was signed, establishing the Western Union (WU), followed by the International Authority for the Ruhr . Furthermore, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), the predecessor of the OECD, was also founded in 1948 to manage the Marshall Plan , which led to the Soviets creating Comecon in response. The ensuing Hague Congress of May 1948 was a pivotal moment in European integration, as it led to
10440-478: The Treaty of Paris . This treaty was created in 1952 the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was built on the International Authority for the Ruhr , installed by the Western Allies in 1949 to regulate the coal and steel industries of the Ruhr area in West Germany. Backed by the Marshall Plan with large funds coming from the United States since 1948, the ECSC became a milestone organisation, enabling European economic development and integration and being
10614-426: The United Kingdom . Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum . The Ostpolitik and the ensuing détente led to establishment of a first truly pan-European body, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), predecessor of the modern Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1979, the first direct elections to
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#173285186681210788-440: The Western Union , the International Authority for the Ruhr , the European Coal and Steel Community , the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community , which were established by treaties. These increasingly amalgamated bodies grew, with their legal successor the EU, both in size through the accessions of a further 22 states from 1973 to 2013, and in power through acquisitions of policy areas. In 2012,
10962-440: The extreme nationalism that had caused the war. On 19 September 1946, in a much recognized speech, Winston Churchill , speaking at the University of Zürich , reiterated his calls since 1930 for a "European Union" and "Council of Europe", coincidentally parallel to the Hertenstein Congress of the Union of European Federalists , one of the then founded and later constituting members of the European Movement . One month later,
11136-457: The monetary branch of the European Union, the prime component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks. It is one of the world's most important central banks . The ECB Governing Council makes monetary policy for the Eurozone and the European Union, administers the foreign exchange reserves of EU member states, engages in foreign exchange operations, and defines the intermediate monetary objectives and key interest rate of
11310-447: The principle of conferral (which says that it should act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by the treaties ) and of subsidiarity (which says that it should act only where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states acting alone). Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms. Generally speaking, they can be classified into two groups: those which come into force without
11484-480: The 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power. Nevertheless, in 1965 an agreement was reached, and on 1 July 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities . Jean Rey presided over the first merged commission ( Rey Commission ). In 1973, the communities were enlarged to include Denmark (including Greenland), Ireland, and
11658-425: The BASME project reported that it had worked with 423 SMEs and helped them with business development that resulted in 1011 jobs. Similarly NEPIC created a programme to mentor 120 SMEs to improve their carbon efficiency and to accredit their sustainability credentials. This enabled some of NEPIC's SME member's supply chain data to be available to Tier 1 companies which from 2013 onwards, in the UK, are expected to have
11832-415: The CJEU the power for consistent application of EU law across the EU as a whole. The court also acts as an administrative and constitutional court between the other EU institutions and the Member States and can annul or invalidate unlawful acts of EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. The General Court is a constituent court of the European Union. It hears actions taken against the institutions of
12006-444: The Center for Effective Philanthropy, which creates rigorous tools for measuring foundation effectiveness; FSG Social Impact Advisors, a leading non-profit strategy firm which he co-founded with Mark Kramer, serving NGOs, corporations, and foundations in the area of creating social value; and International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurements (ICHOM), which he co-founded in 2012 with Stefan Larsson and Martin Ingvar. ICHOM supports
12180-414: The Cluster and its members with trade missions to new markets. In order to share knowledge with and support other business sectors in the north-east of England, NEPIC is a member of the Northern Business Forum (NBF). This business led forum also links the Cluster to wider business issues, both locally and nationally, through the local & national business membership organisations represented. Members of
12354-431: The Cluster footprint. By 2017 the Cluster reported that it has been involved in landing 95 process industry investments into its region worth well over £4 billion and adding 5,000 jobs. NEPIC has participated in a number of European Union funded cluster collaboration projects and collaborative innovation projects, thereby enabling its members to participate and access the benchmarking and business best practice that
12528-417: The Council of the European Union and the "Council of Ministers", its former title), forms one half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a representative from each member state's government and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed . Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body. In addition to the legislative functions, members of
12702-547: The ECB and the national central banks (NCBs) of all 27 member states of the European Union. The ESCB is not the monetary authority of the eurozone, because not all EU member states have joined the euro. The ESCB's objective is price stability throughout the European Union. Secondarily, the ESCB's goal is to improve monetary and financial cooperation between the Eurosystem and member states outside
12876-401: The EU administration by investigating complaints, as well as by proactively looking into broader systemic issues. The current Ombudsman is Emily O'Reilly . The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is the prosecutory branch of the union with juridical personality, established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 23 of the 27 states of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation. It
13050-534: The EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU , in 2020; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it . Internationalism and visions of European unity had existed since well before the 19th century, but gained particularly as a reaction to World War I and its aftermath. In this light the first advances for the idea of European integration were made. In 1920 John Maynard Keynes proposed
13224-420: The EU, which together with the Council of the European Union is tasked with amending and approving the European Commission's proposals. 705 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years on the basis of proportional representation . MEPs are elected on a national basis and they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has
13398-545: The EU. The ECB Executive Board enforces the policies and decisions of the Governing Council, and may direct the national central banks when doing so. The ECB has the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes . Member states can issue euro coins , but the volume must be approved by the ECB beforehand. The bank also operates the TARGET2 payments system. The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) consists of
13572-614: The Euro . After the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , the EU leaders agreed for the first time to create common debt to finance the European Recovery Program called Next Generation EU (NGEU). On 24 February 2022, after massing on the borders of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces undertook an attempt for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The European Union imposed heavy sanctions on Russia and agreed on
13746-461: The European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties. These are power-giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants. The EU has legal personality , with
13920-472: The European Council of its decision to leave on 29 March 2017, initiating the formal withdrawal procedure for leaving the EU ; following extensions to the process, the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, though most areas of EU law continued to apply to the UK for a transition period which lasted until 31 December 2020. The early 2020s saw Denmark abolishing one of its three opt-outs and Croatia adopting
14094-481: The European Council. The other 25 commissioners are subsequently appointed by the Council of the European Union in agreement with the nominated president. The 27 commissioners as a single body are subject to approval (or otherwise) by a vote of the European Parliament . All commissioners are first nominated by the government of the respective member state. The council, as it is now simply called (also called
14268-595: The European Parliament were held. Greece joined in 1981. In 1985, Greenland left the Communities , following a dispute over fishing rights. During the same year, the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states. In 1986, the Single European Act was signed. Portugal and Spain joined in 1986. In 1990, after
14442-492: The European Treaties but were developed by the Court of Justice itself over the 1960s, apparently under the influence of its then most influential judge, Frenchman Robert Lecourt . The question whether the secondary law enacted by the EU has a comparable status in relation to national legislation, has been a matter of debate among legal scholars. The European Union is based on a series of treaties . These first established
14616-513: The European Union by individuals and member states, although certain matters are reserved for the Court of Justice. Decisions of the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice, but only on a point of law. Prior to the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, it was known as the Court of First Instance. The European Central Bank (ECB) is one of the institutions of
14790-410: The European Union ). It is more integrated than a traditional confederation of states because the general level of government widely employs qualified majority voting in some decision-making among the member states, rather than relying exclusively on unanimity. It is less integrated than a federal state because it is not a state in its own right: sovereignty continues to flow 'from the bottom up', from
14964-474: The European Union is formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and consists of two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court . The Court of Justice is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law . As a part of the CJEU, it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its uniform application across all EU member states under Article 263 of
15138-538: The European Union). The monetary policy of the eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank. The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU budget is scrutinised by the European Court of Auditors. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area. The Union's executive branch
15312-486: The Five Forces in his 1980 article Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Porter introduced the concept of competitive advantage in 1985. which later went onto become one of the key concepts in management science at present. He also published a book titled Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance in order to explain the concept of competitive advantage and
15486-752: The Indian Chemical Council (ICC), the Karnataka Drug and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KDPMA), Gujarat Chemical Association, Vapi Industries Association, Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) and Plastindia . In Brazil, with the Suape Coplexo Industria Portuario and in China the Jiangsu Association of Science and Technology (JASTI). NEPIC has participated in joint meetings and projects with these organisations and has often managed reciprocal visits from groups of companies associated with
15660-550: The Interterminals Group) operate a biofuel blending facility. CF Industries (formerly GrowHow) who manufacture fertilizer is capturing carbon dioxide from their ammonia based fertilizer business and this is being used to aid the growing of tomatoes in an industrial market garden on Teesside. This reduces emissions and eliminates road miles from former European imports. Sembcorp operate a 30 MW biomass power plant known as Wilton 10 using both waste wood and coppiced wood, which
15834-639: The James A. Hamilton award of the American College of Healthcare Executives in 2007 for book of the year. His New England Journal of Medicine research article, "A Strategy for Health Care Reform – Toward a Value-Based System" (July 2009), lays out a health reform strategy for the US. His work on health care is employed to address the health care delivery problems in developing countries, in collaboration with Dr. Jim Yong Kim , Dr. Kevin J. Bozic, and others at
16008-660: The NEPIC Cluster are Sabic making ethylene, low-density polyethylene and aromatics, Ineos acrylonitrile, GrowHow ammonia and ammonia based fertilizers, Ensus bioethanol and animal feed, Phillips 66 oil refining, Omya Calcium Carbonate, Huntsman polyurethane intermediates and titanium dioxide, Harvest Energy biodiesel and Greenergy fuel blending. These commodity chemical companies used to share logistical, utility and other infrastructure with Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) who made steel in Redcar until final closure in October 2015. This
16182-853: The NEPIC Cluster are based on Teesside on three large chemical sites around the mouth of the River Tees at Wilton , Billingham and Seal Sands that were formerly owned and operated by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). These locations have a long history of large scale chemical manufacturing even before the creation of ICI. The large scale manufacturing companies operating on these sites are sometimes called " commodity chemical manufacturers " and they make products such as petrochemicals , fertilizers and polymers . The large scale, commodity chemical producers on Teesside work through NEPIC's Integrated Manufacturers Group (IMG) where they exchange information on infrastructure issues and also share intelligence on engineering resources for large maintenance / overhauls and capital investment projects. Such projects in
16356-419: The NEPIC cluster there are companies that provide laboratory facilities, manufacturing sites, logistics, construction and procurement, analytical sciences, validation consultants, maintenance, operation and financial services, public relations and contingency planning. Fundamental medical research is done in this region at several of its universities. For example, Newcastle University was the first to receive
16530-511: The NEPIC footprint are also involved in the scale up, manufacture and commercialisation of Graphene , Applied Graphene Materials and Thomas Swan Limited. The UK Government has also chosen this Cluster to base its National Graphene Applications Centre. The above chemical companies are also supported by specialist utility providers and speciality gas providers such as Sembcorp and BOC-Linde, bulk storage businesses such as Simon Storage and Vopak , while speciality packaging and formulation of chemicals
16704-694: The National Industrial Biotechnology Facility (NIBF) at Wilton International . Members of the North East England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) are also focusing on development of biorefinery concepts which could impact on fine, speciality and commodity chemicals , pharmaceuticals , agrochemicals and bio-fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel . Large scale biofuels plants are already operating on Teesside by Ensus and Harvest Energy, while Greenergy (note: Harvest and Greenergy are all now part of
16878-697: The Netherlands , and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome , which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union . They also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for cooperation in developing nuclear power. Both treaties came into force in 1958. Although the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, they shared
17052-567: The North East LEP (NELEP). It works internationally to attract investment and partners with other European locations for the chemical industry through the European Chemical Site Promotion Platform (ECSPP). In line with the Cluster's strategy, NEPIC manages several business support products to help SMEs grow. The Cluster secured a Regional Growth Fund project to mentor 400 SMEs in this region into new business within
17226-1075: The Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) on renewables and bioresources projects do so through the Cluster's Bioresources Thrust Team. The Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Speciality, Biotechnology companies cannot operate without the support of an extensive local supply chain . Supply Chain companies within NEPIC include Analytical and Measurement Science Companies, Chemical Engineering , Control Engineering , Mechanical Engineering , Process Engineering , Project Engineering , Construction Engineering , Maintenance Engineering , Toolmakers , Business and Site Security, Safety Management , Disaster and Business Recovery Management, Engineering Equipment Suppliers, Laboratory Equipment Suppliers, Business Performance Improvement Consultants, Legal Firms, Management & Strategy Consultants, Process Development , Publicity Firms, Publishers and Printers, Purchasing Companies, Recruitment Companies, Research Institutions etc. The concentration of such supply chain businesses in
17400-532: The Process Industry Carbon Capture and Storage Initiative (PICCSI) to study the possibility of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) solution being provided for industry on Teesside as well as for any carbon based energy production. This CCS technology option is being considered as a result of climate change regulations and the carbon taxation that could become a prohibitive cost for such energy intensive industries. NEPIC members are also studying
17574-790: The Soviets. Immediately following the February 1948 coup d'état by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia , the London Six-Power Conference was held, resulting in the Soviet boycott of the Allied Control Council and its incapacitation, an event marking the beginning of the Cold War . The year 1948 marked the beginning of the institutionalised modern European integration . In March 1948
17748-535: The Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The Court was established in 1952, and is based in Luxembourg . It is composed of one judge per member state – currently 27 – although it normally hears cases in panels of three, five or fifteen judges. The Court has been led by president Koen Lenaerts since 2015. The CJEU is the highest court of the European Union in matters of Union law . Its case-law provides that EU law has supremacy over any national law that
17922-408: The US ranks relative to other countries on a comprehensive scorecard called "The Social Progress Index", an effort which he co-authored. This scorecard rated the US on a comprehensive set of metrics; overall, the US placed 16th. Michael Porter defined the two ways in which an organization can achieve competitive advantage over its rivals: cost advantage and differentiation advantage. Cost advantage
18096-430: The Union as a whole, though the exact delimitation has on occasions become a subject of scholarly or legal disputes. In certain fields, members have awarded exclusive competence and exclusive mandate to the Union. These are areas in which member states have entirely renounced their own capacity to enact legislation. In other areas, the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate,
18270-549: The Union for a new great enlargement is a political priority for the Union, with the goal of achieving over 35 member states by 2030. Institutional and budgetary reforms are being discussed in order to the Union to be ready for the new members. In May 2024, concerns rise, that the outcome of the elections in June, can undermine some of the crucial policies of the EU in the domain of environment, diplomacy, economy . The war in Ukraine by creating inflation, lowering life level created
18444-572: The United States, and to France and Canada. This contributed to Porter's interest in understanding the economic development of regions and countries, and the differences in economic outcomes and competitiveness across different regions. Porter said in an interview that he first became interested in competition through sports. He was on the NCAA championship golf squad at Princeton and also played football, baseball and basketball growing up. Porter received
18618-654: The WEU and NATO in 1955, prompting the Soviet Union to form the Warsaw Pact in 1955 as an institutional framework for its military domination in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe . Assessing the progress of European integration the Messina Conference was held in 1955, ordering the Spaak report , which in 1956 recommended the next significant steps of European integration. In 1957, Belgium , France , Italy , Luxembourg ,
18792-617: The aforementioned bodies and countries. These partnerships can lead to joint projects, for example, NEPIC and the Indian Chemical Council (ICC) jointly organised the Indian Chemical Industry Outlook Conference in 2013. Furthermore member companies have found new business via such Cluster to Cluster relationships, for example one SME business attending the Indian Outlook Conference in India in 2013 reported in
18966-409: The area's industrial economy. Companies in the cluster produce 35% of the pharmaceuticals and 50% of the petrochemicals used in the UK, making this area the only net exporter of goods from the country. The area has more than £13 billion in exports. NEPIC was created in 2004 by the leaders of local chemistry based process industry companies that are based in the north-east of England. The aim of
19140-859: The automobile supply chain which, in north-east England, is dominated by Nissan 's European automobile manufacturing plant at Sunderland . The automobile supply chain in this region is represented by the North East Automobile Alliance (NEAA). This region has an active, modern pharmaceutical industry and the north-east of England has a full capability in the pharmaceutical value chain , including pre-clinical drug discovery and development, clinical research and development, clinical trial management, pilot-scale manufacturing, full-scale pharmaceutical ingredient and intermediate manufacturing, as well as final product formulation, packaging and distribution. Furthermore, pharmaceutical businesses are underpinned by an experienced and successful supply chain. Within
19314-515: The beginning of the 2010s, the cohesion of the European Union has been tested by several issues, including a debt crisis in some of the Eurozone countries , a surge in asylum seekers in 2015 , and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU . A referendum in the UK on its membership of the European Union was held in 2016, with 51.9 per cent of participants voting to leave. The UK formally notified
19488-400: The book which later went onto become a bestseller also focuses on value chain concept. Porter introduced the concept of value chain analysis in his 1985 book, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance . The value chain comprises each of the activities, from design through distribution, that a company performs to produce a product; these activities are viewed as
19662-420: The business, particularly of its Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) members, with the aim of strengthening SME businesses in its local supply chain. NEPIC does this by using its international linkages and partnerships to de-risk the initial development of international trade for its members. This is achieved by reciprocal knowledge and support of partner clusters and trade bodies and their members. NEPIC's approach
19836-406: The chemical process sector can require hundreds of additional contract engineers for short intense periods of time and this requires extensive engineering planning. The maintenance of chemical plant is an engineering profession in its own right. The NEPIC IMG of manufacturers are amongst the largest single point producers of carbon dioxide in the United Kingdom and they have created within NEPIC
20010-546: The cluster has been Chaired by Ian Shott CBE, Robert Coxon OBE, Paul Booth MBE and most recently former MP Ian Swales who is the current chair person. Dr Stan Higgins has been NEPIC's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since its formation in 2004. Dr Higgins announced that he is to retire during 2017. On 1 June 2017 NEPIC announced that former Chair of the UK Parliamentary Business Committee and labour MP Iain Wright
20184-439: The company has announced that a second such unit is also to be built in this location. Others are developing projects utilising pyrolysis to recover useful materials from carbon wastes and also new processes to manufacture biosynthetic natural gas (SNG)and fuels from air being developed by Air Fuels Synthesis. Depolymerisation processes are also under investigation. The Cluster companies and new investors collaborating through
20358-415: The concentration of ATEC business is the highest in the UK and around Stockton-on-Tees the concentration is amongst the highest for such businesses in Europe. According to Christian Ketels of Harvard Business School " Globalisation has not only raised the relative role of location and Clusters, it has raised the bar in terms of the demands that successful clusters have to meet." Ketels suggests that this
20532-416: The council also have executive responsibilities, such as the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy and the coordination of broad economic policies within the Union. The Presidency of the council rotates between member states, with each holding it for six months. Beginning on 1 July 2024, the position is held by Hungary. The European Parliament is one of three legislative institutions of
20706-556: The creation of the European Movement International , the College of Europe and most importantly to the foundation of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949 (which is now Europe Day ). The Council of Europe was one of the first institutions to bring the sovereign states of (then only Western) Europe together, raising great hopes and fevered debates in the following two years for further European integration. It has since been
20880-523: The detection, prevention, and monitoring of a number of medical conditions. In Morpeth, Northumberland Piramal Healthcare invested into bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. Across the region, companies such as Leica Biosystems, Orla Proteins, Helena Bioscience, Thermo Fischer Scientific and Millipore are significant contributors to the growing strength of the sector and its supply chain. Industrial, White Biotechnology includes manufacturing, alternative energy (or "bioenergy"), and biomaterials and
21054-425: The emissions by the reabsorption of carbon dioxide through the growth of an equivalent amount of biomass. Alternatively they are implementing technologies that enable the use of societal waste as a new basic raw material. The Chemical Engineering technologies that are being implemented include advanced gasification and Air Products and Chemicals are implementing their plasma gasification technology on Teesside,
21228-451: The entire cabinet, the final say in accepting or rejecting a candidate submitted for a given portfolio by a member state, and oversees the commission's permanent civil service. After the President, the most prominent commissioner is the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy, who is ex-officio a vice-president of the European Commission and is also chosen by
21402-402: The euro, followed by Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, and Lithuania in 2015. On 1 December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force and reformed many aspects of the EU. In particular, it changed the legal structure of the European Union, merging the EU three pillars system into a single legal entity provisioned with a legal personality , created
21576-481: The eurozone. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) is the auditory branch of the European Union. It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members (1 from each EU member-state) supported by approximately 800 civil servants. The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is the EU's civil service recruitment body and operates its selection of candidates via generalist and specialist competitions. Each institution
21750-540: The fall of the Eastern Bloc , the former East Germany became part of the communities as part of a reunified Germany . The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty —whose main architects were Horst Köhler , Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand —came into force on 1 November 1993. The treaty also gave the name European Community to the EEC, even if it was referred to as such before
21924-552: The following classifications have become established. Red Biotechnology – Medical, Health care and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. White Biotechnology – Biotechnology for industrial products. Green Biotechnology – Biotechnology applied to environmental issues. Blue Biotechnology – Biotechnology based on marine organisms. The north-east of England has strengths in all these areas. Industrial and academic biotechnological research in Red Biotechnology has been well established in
22098-535: The forum include the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Confederation of British Industry (CBI) North East, the Engineering Employers Federation Northern (EEF), The Institute of Directors (IOD), The North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), Service Network, RTC North and NEPIC. The Association of North East Councils (ANEC) are amongst the observers of the forum. Teesport is based on
22272-732: The institutions of the developing European community under the European Political Community , which was to include the also proposed European Defence Community , an alternative to West Germany joining NATO which was established in 1949 under the Truman Doctrine . In 1954 the Modified Brussels Treaty transformed the Western Union into the Western European Union (WEU). West Germany eventually joined both
22446-476: The interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. The leader of the 27 is the president of the European Commission (presently Ursula von der Leyen for 2019–2024, reelected for the 2024-2029 term), proposed by the European Council , following and taking into account the result of the European elections, and is then elected by the European Parliament. The President retains, as the leader responsible for
22620-461: The internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade , agriculture , fisheries and regional development . Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area . The eurozone is a group composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the economic and monetary union and use the euro currency . Through
22794-468: The key strategic agenda items in Porter's Value-Based Health Care Delivery framework by working with patients and leading healthcare providers to create a global standard for measuring health outcomes. He also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Princeton University . An analysis by Porter in collaboration with Katherine Gehl frames the US two-party system as a duopoly , a business best described as
22968-518: The legal inception of the European Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its present responsibilities from the European Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of the Schuman Declaration . The European Union operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making, and according to
23142-679: The local and UK economy. The ongoing work of the Cluster particularly with the Small & Medium Size (SME) business community via the Clusters Business Acceleration for SMEs (BASME) project has seen the Clusters impact on its local economy grow to £2.5 billion of GVA per annum by 2015. By 2017 the total GVA contribution of NEPIC had climbed to £3.34 billion. Between 2005 and 2013 the NEPIC, cluster members, and its local authority partners helped to secure 83 significant investments into
23316-403: The market visit blog that "the quality, seniority and number of attendees that NEPIC (and ICC) have attracted are of great credit to them. I have calculated that it would have taken me at least 4 years to meet the executives that have met in one week on this trip." At the same time others reported new business being created during their first market visit with the Cluster. By 2017 NEPIC had become
23490-486: The member states can only legislate to the extent to which the EU has not. In other policy areas, the EU can only co-ordinate, support and supplement member state action but cannot enact legislation with the aim of harmonising national laws. That a particular policy area falls into a certain category of competence is not necessarily indicative of what legislative procedure is used for enacting legislation within that policy area. Different legislative procedures are used within
23664-500: The member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass 20 countries. The euro currency became the second-largest reserve currency in the world. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia , Hungary , Latvia , Lithuania , Malta , Poland , Slovakia , and Slovenia joined the union. In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became EU members. Later that year, Slovenia adopted
23838-515: The members of the Indian Chemical Council. With companies such as Jacobs Engineering, SMEs such as Biochimica UK Limited (water treatment), Micropore Technologies Limited (innovative dispersion & emulsification technology) and Harrison Goddard Foote (HGF) (patent agents) being very positive about their experience and showing the supply chain diversity. These companies show the diversity of the chemical process industry supply chain . Michael Porter Michael Eugene Porter (born May 23, 1947)
24012-556: The membership of NEPIC can be categorised into three groups: petrochemical , commodity chemical , fine and speciality chemical companies. The petrochemical and commodity chemical companies are those most likely to utilise large infrastructure such as pipelines, storage facilities, utilities, power stations, port facilities and railways. These companies in this Cluster are almost exclusively based on Teesside, mostly on three chemical industrial parks at Wilton , Billingham and Seal Sands . Examples of large scale commodity manufacturers in
24186-499: The monomer for their polyether ether ketone (PEEK) product at their facility on Teesside. There are also new biopolymers and resins in development and scale up by companies such as Plaxica, which is developing new processes to commercialise polylactic acid (PLA) and Cambridge Biopolymers, who are commercialising functional bioresins; both are based at the Teesside process industry research centre Wilton International . New processes for
24360-420: The necessity for national implementation measures (regulations) and those which specifically require national implementation measures (directives). EU policy is in general promulgated by EU directives , which are then implemented in the domestic legislation of its member states , and EU regulations , which are immediately enforceable in all member states. Lobbying at the EU level by special interest groups
24534-431: The north-east England and has developed into strengths in diagnostics , bioinformatics , Biomanufacturing , Biocatalysis & Bio-transformations , Bioremediation , Pharmaceutical research, Microbiological analysis and testing, Production of antibodies , proteins and peptides . Leading edge research is done at the region's Universities, for example Newcastle University was the first institution in Europe, second in
24708-666: The north-east of England Process Industry Cluster has some large-scale activity based on Teesside. SABIC operate one of the world's biggest low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plants, which makes the United Kingdom a net exporter of LDPE. Lotte Chemical manufacture both purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Ineos manufacture acrylonitrile , an intermediate used for Nylon 66 and acrylics . Speciality polymer products are also made there. Ineos, for example, also manufacture aqueous polyvinylchloride PVC products in County Durham whilst Victrex manufacture all
24882-698: The north-east of England is internationally significant. In 2009 Service Network commissioned Shared Intelligence and Gavurin to undertake an assessment of the Knowledge Intensive Business & Services (KIBS) sector in the north-east of England. The report concludes that KIBS companies are distributed across the whole of the region. It identifies that the region has a particular strength in Architectural & Engineering Activities & Related Technical Consultancy (AETC) workplaces with 2810 such firms employing 13,385 people. The report also identifies that
25056-634: The north-east of England. NEPIC has two offices in the region: one in the north in Sunderland and one in the south at Wilton near Redcar in Teesside. At the Wilton location, NEPIC is amongst several process sector and supply chain companies that work out of the process industry research centre Wilton International . The UK Innovation Catapult, the Centre for Process Innovation, is also based in this multi-occupancy technical development centre. The chemical companies in
25230-419: The oil industry. Although not strictly a polymer, the acrylic Perspex is a well known plastic like material; it and other acrylic products are manufactured in Teesside and County Durham by Lucite International , which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi corporation . The region also has a significant number of polymer extrusion and forming companies that supply a number of advanced engineering supply chains notably
25404-609: The organisation being to represent and coordinate industry's collaborative activities on the wide ranging issues that impact on the future and performance of the energy intensive process sector, which includes petrochemicals ; specialty chemicals ; polymers ; pharmaceuticals ; biotechnology and renewables . These issues include renewable and more sustainable energy opportunities, innovation and R&D interests, energy pricing capacity and availability, carbon taxation and carbon emission reduction technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), graduate and technician skills for
25578-534: The origin of the main institutions of the EU such as the European Commission and Parliament . Founding fathers of the European Union understood that coal and steel were the two industries essential for waging war, and believed that by tying their national industries together, a future war between their nations became much less likely. In parallel with Schuman, the Pleven Plan of 1951 tried but failed to tie
25752-840: The other hand is a project that is being led and managed by NEPIC with 13 international partners who together are investigating best practice and developing new ideas for the development of more efficient industrial parks in the future. NEPIC provides technical, funding and business advice to new investors and indigenous businesses. To assist with industry attraction and growth, NEPIC supports companies in securing their major capital projects, management buyouts (MBO) and start-ups . The Cluster provides intelligence on local supply chain capabilities in areas such as site location, planning, infrastructure, raw material sourcing, engineering, logistics, measurement science, workforce development and legal advice. To deliver projects NEPIC partners with its Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) Tees Valley Unlimited and
25926-558: The pharmaceutical industry. Within a mile of the Fujifilm complex are small companies working on the building blocks of life. Cambridge Research Biochemicals (CRB) supports discovery research activities by providing custom-made research reagents, principally peptides and antibodies. In Sunderland, Immuno Diagnostic Systems (IDS) are producing medical test kits and in Hartlepool Hart Biologicals produce diagnostic products for use in
26100-498: The presidents of Rwanda and South Korea. In 1983, Porter co-founded the Monitor Group , a strategy-consulting firm acquired by Deloitte Consulting in 2013 through a structured bankruptcy proceeding . Michael Porter has founded four major non-profit organizations : Initiative for a Competitive Inner City – ICIC, founded in 1994, and which he still chairs, which addresses economic development in distressed urban communities;
26274-403: The process industry in the region totalling £3.7 billion. The companies making significant investment during this period into the Cluster footprint include: Many of the above projects and those of other NEPIC member companies have been assisted in their investment plans by grants made available by the United Kingdom Government. The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has supported many projects within
26448-431: The process known as " fracking " exceed 1.3 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas , although not all of this will be extractable. The extraction of shale gas in the UK has been the subject of two major reports, one from the Institute of Directors called "Getting Shale Gas Working" and one from the UK Government entitled the "Bowland Shale Gas Study". In addition, the region has substantial unexploited coal reserves in
26622-493: The process sector. This is the Business Acceleration for SMEs (BASME) project through which 1000 jobs were created in the process sector supply chain over 3 years. More than 200 SME's signed up to this programme in the first 18 months and created over 170 jobs. The BASME programme has enabled NEPIC to increase the interaction between process industry companies and their local supply chain such that after 30 months 327 SMEs had engaged with it adding 425 jobs. When complete, over 3 years,
26796-484: The prospect of energy production from unconventional gas sources including energy from waste , energy from biomass , shale gas and underground coal gasification . Several energy from waste plants are already present in this region and more are being constructed. The region is close to large reserves of shale gas and coal and commercial exploitation of these reserves is being considered. The shale gas deposits close to this region that are available for exploitation by
26970-451: The recycling of polymers have also been commercialised at Wilton. For example, Biffa Polymers recycle a large percentage of the UK's plastic milk bottles into polymer chip. This was one of the first technology applications which allowed food-grade polymer packaging to be recycled without passing through a melted phase. In 2013, SNF announced that they intend to build a polymer manufacturing unit on Teesside to make polyacrylamide emulsion for
27144-410: The region. These companies formulate and package finished pharmaceuticals ready for consumer use. Small quantity and speciality pharmaceutical formulations are also manufactured by contract manufacturers Specials Labs and SCM Pharma in Northumberland, which was acquired by Shire Pharmaceuticals in 2014. While Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (Teesside), formerly Avecia is one of the largest investments in
27318-408: The same category of competence, and even with the same policy area. The distribution of competences in various policy areas between member states and the union is divided into the following three categories: The European Union has seven principal decision-making bodies, its institutions : the European Parliament , the European Council , the Council of the European Union , the European Commission ,
27492-429: The same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein ( Hallstein Commission ) and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand ( Armand Commission ) and then Étienne Hirsch ( Hirsch Commission ). The OEEC was in turn reformed in 1961 into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its membership was extended to states outside of Europe, the United States and Canada. During
27666-425: The sector and industry growth to ensure that the region remains a globally important location for the chemical industry . NEPIC has been recognised by the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) in the UK for its work in informing stakeholders about the sector and by the professional institutions in the UK for its engagement and representation of industry issues. The Northeast of England is recognised and promoted by
27840-449: The several peoples of the separate member states, rather than from a single undifferentiated whole. This is reflected in the fact that the member states remain the 'masters of the Treaties', retaining control over the allocation of competences to the union through constitutional change (thus retaining so-called Kompetenz-kompetenz ); in that they retain control of the use of armed force; they retain control of taxation; and in that they retain
28014-400: The six year period 2005 to 2011 show that through its industry led activities, by 2017, NEPIC's activities are contributing significant levels of GVA to its local economy. to the UK economy . In December 2013, NEPIC reported to its local Members of Parliament that since 2005 the Cluster had secured 83 significant investments and 4,000 jobs which now contributes more than £2 billion GVA to
28188-422: The top of his class by his second year at HBS. Porter developed the Porter five forces analysis framework for analyzing industries, inspired by classes in industrial organization economics that he took at Harvard. During his career, Porter has emphasized that the essence of strategy is about making choices. He has delivered public speaking based on the importance of strategy formulation and has served as
28362-447: The treaty. With further enlargement planned to include the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Cyprus and Malta , the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the EU were agreed upon in June 1993. The expansion of the EU introduced a new level of complexity and discord. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU. In 2002, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of
28536-487: The union for foreign affairs and security policy (presently Josep Borrell ) also takes part in its meetings. Described by some as the union's "supreme political leadership", it is actively involved in the negotiation of treaty changes and defines the EU's policy agenda and strategies. Its leadership role involves solving disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolving any political crises or disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts as
28710-480: The work of the Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) which uses its cluster to cluster links in two ways to meet the strategic needs of its Industrial Leadership Council. Firstly, to meet its Internationalisation aims, NEPIC's cluster to cluster activities build up a wider international understanding of the capabilities of the industry in its region and also of its members specific businesses. Secondly, it uses cluster to cluster relationships to help develop
28884-492: The world in biopharmaceutical & biologics medicines manufacturing, the company manufactures, under contract, active biopharmaceuticals for a number of pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceuticals make up a significant proportion of the exports of the north-east of England. The region produces 33% of the UK's GDP in pharmaceutical manufacturing with 95% of finished product exported to global markets Biotechnology has become widely used in many industrial and academic activities and
29058-399: The world, to receive permission to pursue stem-cell research in human embryos. New industries that have now developed form a significant sector in the Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC). Fujifilm Diosynth Biologics at Billingham now employs over 550 people, the majority of them being graduate-level skills in biotechnology, to develop new products and innovative processes for
29232-437: The “basic units of competitive advantage". Porter has focused on addressing pressing problems in health care delivery in the US and other countries. His book, Redefining Health Care (written with Elizabeth Teisberg), develops a new strategic framework for transforming the value delivered by the health care system, with implications for providers, health plans, employers, and government, among other actors. The book received
29406-878: Was Europe's second largest operational blast furnace. TATA Steel still operate steel milling and rolling units on Teesside. The speciality chemical and fine chemical companies in the NEPIC Cluster are spread across all the sub-regions of north-east England including Teesside, County Durham , Tyne and Wear and Northumberland . Examples on Teesside: Fine Organics, Chemoxy, Vertellus, Johnson Matthey , Koppers , Lucite International and Mitsubishi Chemicals . In County Durham: High Force Research, Newchem Technologies, Thomas Swan, Exwold Technology and Huntsman Tioxide, and Frutarom. In Tyne and Wear and Northumberland Kilfrost, Akzo & International Paint and Chemson all manufacture speciality chemicals while Aesica, Sterling Pharma Solutions and Piramal make and use fine chemical intermediates mostly as pharmaceutical intermediates. Companies in
29580-529: Was appointed Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard , the university's highest recognition awarded to Harvard faculty. He is a six-time winner of the McKinsey Award for the best Harvard Business Review article of the year. Porter's work has received criticism from peers within academia for inconsistent logical argument in his assertions. Porter's conclusions have been critiqued as "lacking in empirical support" and as "justified with selective case studies". In these analysis of his work it
29754-420: Was established, along with its citizenship , when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993, and was incorporated as an international legal juridical person upon entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 . Its beginnings can be traced to the Inner Six states (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany ) at the start of modern European integration in 1948, and to
29928-408: Was influenced under the guidance of Porter, taught American business administration. Porter has served on two public boards of directors, those of Thermo Fisher Scientific and Parametric Technology Corporation . He influence economic policy , working with the Executive Branch and with Congress , and has led national economic-strategy programs in other countries. As of 2009 , he was working with
30102-418: Was spent on transport , building and the environment, €16bn on education and research , €13bn on welfare, €20bn on foreign and defence policy, €2bn in finance , €2bn in energy , €1.5bn in communications, and €13bn in administration. In November 2020, two members of the union, Hungary and Poland, blocked approval to the EU's budget at a meeting in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), citing
30276-414: Was the signing of the Treaty of Dunkirk between France and the United Kingdom . The treaty assured mutual assistance in the event of future military aggression against either nation. Though it officially named Germany as a threat, in reality the actual concern was for the Soviet Union. A few days later came the announcement of the Truman Doctrine which pledged American support for democracies to counter
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