In the past few years over 20 initiatives promoting the establishment of technology platforms have been made in Europe. The technology platforms bring together the most important European policy-makers in the different research and technology fields. The industry’s role in the technology platforms is central: the European Commission has invited initiatives for the forming of platforms from the industry in particular.

One of the established technology platforms is Suschem (European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry). The CEFIC-initiated technology platform has its operational basis on a vision reaching all the way to 2025. In this vision the industry aims at creating chemical product and production innovations in three different fields: industrial biotechnology, materials technology and reaction and process design. In addition the platform aims to remove obstacles hindering the emergence of innovations by exerting its influence on issues such as education and competencies in the field, availability of risk funding, issues of chemicals safety as well as communications.

In 2005 the technology platform for Sustainable Chemistry prepared a Strategic Research Agenda for the above mentioned technology fields. The research agenda will provide the guidelines for the European-level chemistry research in the coming years. In addition the goal is to include the research themes outlined in the agenda in the contents of the seventh framework programme for research. The seventh framework programme covers the period of 2007-2013.

The Chemical Industry Federation of Finland monitors the activities of the technology platform and collects together the proposals of the Finnish industry and the research sector regarding issue.

So far more than 20 technology platforms have been established, and these include projects interesting to the chemical industry as well:

- Technology Platform of the European Forest-based Sector
- Innovative Medicines for Europe
- Manufacturing Technologies ‘Manufuture’
- Water Supply & Sanitation
- Plant Genomics & Biotechnology
- Nanomedicine
- Industrial Safety