Report December 2025Dunkirk A Testing Ground for European Industrial Renewal France Energy Europe EconomyShareAuthors Thierry Chopin Senior Fellow - Europe Thierry Chopin is a Senior Fellow at Institut Montaigne. A specialist in European Affairs, he holds a PhD in Political Science from the EHESS. François Chimits Head of Europe Program Since May 2025, François Chimits has been Head of Europe Program at the Institut Montaigne. He specializes in economic security issues, EU trade policy and the EU-US-China triangle. Énora Morin Project Officer - Europe Program Énora Morin has been coordinator of the Europe program since September 2024. Acknowledgements The co-authors of the study would like to express their special thanks to Marie-Pierre de Bailliencourt, Managing Director of Institut Montaigne, and to Mathieu Duchâtel, Director of International Studies, for their attentive guidance and their involvement throughout the project. They also wish to thank all Institut Montaigne’s teams who contributed to the preparation of this report and, in particular, in alphabetical order: Juliette Aquilina, Joseph Dellatte, Vera Edwall, Hugo Jennepin, Alix Lemaire, Catherine Merle du Bourg, Eve Talkowski, and Diane Zablit. Interviewees Abdelhak Aitsi, Territorial Development Director, Flanders Territory and Côte d’Opale, EDF, Northwest Commercial DivisionVirginie Banco, Head of Office for Local Development, Dunkirk Sub-PrefectureXavier Barbaro, Group CEO, NeoenPhilippe Beauchamps, Vice President of the Hauts de France Region, Responsible for Businesses, Employment, and TrainingThomas Brion, Project Director, Cathode Active Materials, OranoOlivier Camau, Regional Director for Hauts-de-France, Groupe Caisse des DépôtsBenjamin Carantino, Former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Minister for Industry, Ministry of Industry, Deputy Chief of Staff, Ministry of Ecological TransitionJacques Chanteclair, Vice President and General Manager, Lhoiste Southern Europe, LhoistRomain Charvet, Public Affairs Manager for France and Europe, ErametThierry Chopin, Vice President CO2 Innovation, LhoistArthur Corbin, Adviser for Businesses, Cabinet of Executive Vice President Stéphane Séjourné, European CommissionLaurent Courtois, Energy and Climate Director, Aluminium DunkerqueGuillaume de Goÿs, CEO, Aluminium Dunkerque, Chairman of Aluminium France, Aluminium DunkerqueJean-Gabriel Delacroy, Secretary General for Regional Affairs, SGAR Hauts-de-FranceArnaud Depuydt, Head of the Unit for the Littoral Department, DREAL (Regional Directorate for Environment, Planning and Housing), Hauts-de-France AcknowledgementsPhilippe Englebert, Director, Paris Office, Lazard, Former Adviser for Business, Attractiveness, Financial Services, and Exports, Office of the President of the French RepublicLouis Fleuret, Project Director for Reindustrialization and Regulation, Directorate-General for Enterprise (DGE), Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital SovereigntyNicolas Forain, Head of Logistics and Industrial Development, Grand Port Maritime de DunkerqueCecilia Fouvry-Renzi, Public Affairs Director, Air Liquide France IndustriesThomas François-Poncet, Head of Department, Regional State Economic Service, DREETS (Regional Directorate for Economy, Employment, Labor, and Solidarity), Hauts-de-FranceYannick Fouque, Industry Advisor, Head of the Dunkirk Office, CCI Littoral Hauts-de-FranceThomas Gaillard,Partner, Public Sector, WavestoneThomas Gouzenes, Director of Industrial Policy, Directorate-General for Enterprise (DGE), Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital SovereigntyRaphaël Grandeau, Business Developer Large Industries, Air Liquide France IndustriesYann Grierson, Senior Business Development Manager, Air LiquideHenri de Grossouvre, Director of Foresight, SuezGroupe EngieSimon Karleskind, Regional Director for Hauts-de-France, French Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe)Olivier Kueny, Loan Officer, European Investment BankFrançois Lavallée, Chairman, CCI Littoral Hauts-de-FranceEmmanuelle Leroy, Director of Attractiveness and Employment, Communauté Urbaine de DunkerqueClément Le Roy, Partner, Energy Sector, WavestoneFrédéric Loiseau, Sub-prefect, Dunkirk Sub-PrefectureOlivier Lozet, Director of Key Accounts, SynergieLahcen Merdji, Project Director (Engineering and Economic Expertise), DREETS (Regional Directorate for Economy, Employment, Labor, and Solidarity), Hauts-de-FranceIsabelle Michallet, Professor of Law, Program Director for Environmental Law, University of RennesSégolène Milaire, Political Advisor for Industry and Innovation, Permanent Representation of France to the EUBenoît Moreau, Regional Sales End-Users and Operations Director, Schneider ElectricFrédéric Motte, Member of the Hauts-de-France Regional Council, Delegate for Economic Transformation, Chairman of the Rev3 Taskforce, Hauts-de-France RegionSophie Mourlon, Managing Director, Directorate-General for Energy and Climate (DGEC), Ministry of Ecological TransitionValère Moutarlier, Deputy Director General, European Industry and Decarbonisation, DG Grow, Former Head of Cabinet of European Commissioner for the Internal Market (DG COMP), European Commission 2019-2024Philippe Mutricy, Director of Studies Evaluation and Foresight, BpiFrancePaul-Édouard Niel, Public Affairs Director, VeoliaJean-François Nogrette, Director for France and European Special Waste, VeoliaGilles Normand, Chairman, EVTEch ConsultingÉric Paridimal, Europe Junior Adviser, Office of the President of the French RepublicThomas Pellerin-Carlin, MEP, European ParliamentAntoine Pellion, Deputy Managing Director Responsible for Development, IDEX, Former Secretary General for Ecological Planning (SGPE)Alain Pitte, Director of the Process Industries Division and Member of the Executive Board, ABB FranceXavier Ploquin, Investment Director and Chief of Staff, MeridiamRafaël Ponce, Deputy Managing Director, Dunkirk Urban Community and Managing Director, EcosystèmeDStéphane Raison, Director of Large-Scale Consumption Site Installations, EDF; Former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board, Grand Port Maritime de DunkerqueJean-Baptiste Roche, Ph.D Candidate, Université Paris 2 – Panthéon Assas, Graduate of the École Normale SupérieureEnzo Ribeiro, Chief of Staff and Head of Financing, VerkorJean Schmitt, Chairman, Jolt CapitalPhilippe Varin, Chair, International Chamber of Commerce, Former CEO, PSA Peugeot-Citroën GroupHélène Virette, Decarbonization Project Lead, DREETS (Regional Directorate for Economy, Employment, Labor, and Solidarity), Hauts de FranceAnaïs Voy-Gillis, Associate Researcher at CEREGE, IAE PoitiersThomas Veyrenc, Managing Director Responsible for Economy, Strategy and Finance and Member of the Executive Board, RTEJean-Denys Waeles, Funding Officer, BpifranceAlexandre Wattelier, Public Affairs Director for France, Suez Table of contents 1. Dunkirk: a Strategic Asset for France and Europe 2. 10 Measures to Overcome Obstacles and Strengthen Industry Download Report (184 pages) Executive Summary (10 pages) Our industrial ambitions are facing unprecedented turbulence. Between the environmental transition, fiscal and budgetary uncertainties, and the rise of our dependencies in a globalisation that is becoming more brutal, the context calls for strong mobilisation. More than ever, the development of industrial capacities on European territory is essential. Faced with the ambitions of domination of the United States and China, and the colossal resources they deploy, Europeans cannot afford to "sprinkle" their resources. The defense of our interests and companies will only come through the coordination and concentration of our local, national, and European efforts.Against this backdrop, Institut Montaigne has examined the dynamics at work in Dunkirk. With an industrial history and port, the Dunkirk area stands at the forefront of our new industrial ambitions.Dunkirk thus constitutes an inspiring example: a territory at the crossroads of all these challenges, rich in lessons for rethinking public action. What conditions made it possible to transform this territory into a pioneer of industrial renewal, and what lessons can feed our industrial policies? Building on more than 50 consultations with local, national, and European actors, this report proposes 10 concrete measures at the national and European level to provide us with the means to fulfil our ambitions for industrial renewal, partly drawn from the good practices identified.Dunkirk: a Strategic Asset for France and EuropeFor around ten years, thanks to the joint initiative of public and private actors, Dunkirk has been establishing itself as a territory of excellence and a pioneer of French reindustrialisation.DescriptionDunkirk, A Territory With Unique Characteristics1) A Cooperation Between Public and Private Industrial Culture Decarbonization has been driven by industrial actors themselves, in close synergy with the State and local authorities. 2) A Geographically Strategic Position in Europe Dunkirk is host to a wide range of multimodal infrastructure, including a deep-water port, rail connections, and highways... 3) A Local and Political Industrial Culture Dunkirk’s industrial history attracts skilled labor and facilitates the acceptance of projects. 4) A Ready-to-Use Energy and Land Resources Land is available for industrial development and decarbonized electricity is easily accessible.The Dunkirk industrial area, which alone accounts for more than 20% of the country’s industrial CO₂ emissions, has set itself the goal of becoming a model of 21st-century industry. It embodies both the ambitions of the European Green Deal and the French desire for reindustrialization, showing that it is possible to reconcile climate urgency, competitiveness, and industrial sovereignty.Two emblematic dynamics are at work: on the one hand, the decarbonization and transformation of traditional heavy industries, and on the other, the building of a new battery value chain. These dynamics are based on more than €10 billion in private investment, supported by nearly €4 billion in French and European public funding.10 Measures to Overcome Obstacles and Strengthen IndustryToday, the Dunkirk industrial basin is at a tipping point for European ambitions of industrial renewal. This study enables us to identify the room for manoeuvre at the national and European levels, and puts forward ten recommendations to be urgently implemented that would provide us with the means to achieve our industrial ambitions in an accelerating world.1 Establish priority areas for industrial recovery based on access to land, support for infrastructure construction, tax exemptions, and bureaucratic relief. In detail 2 Promote a project-based organizational model for the end-to-end administrative assistance of industrial projects and related local infrastructure and development plans. In detail 3 Create a specific tax regime for these industrial clusters, especially by reducing production taxes. In detail 4 Guarantee long-term access to secure, carbon-free, and competitive energy. In detail 5 In order to create the conditions for a project-based approach, the government must implement a state-backed risk guarantee system, for example by instructing Coface (Compagnie française d’assurance pour le commerce extérieur, a major trade credit insurance company) or an equivalent body to pay particular attention to this. In detail 6 Strengthen the adaptation of training systems to the objectives of reindustrialization In detail 7 Work towards better alignment of European competition and territorial cohesion policies with industrial policy objectives. In detail 8 Beyond the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), create an "investment shock" for European industry through dedicated labels and tax incentives. In detail 9 In the face of international competition, better adapt European trade policy to industrial and resilience imperatives by mobilizing economic security instruments in a strategic and coordinated manner. In detail 10 Ensure that the Commissioner for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy promotes a coherent policy among Member States, industry, and the general public. In detail Thierry ChopinFrançois ChimitsÉnora MorinPrintShareDownload Report (184 pages)Download Executive Summary (10 pages)related content HeadlinesJuly 2025Cleantech: Reducing Europe’s Strategic Dependence on ChinaThe EU is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050, but remains dependent on critical materials dominated by China. This note explores the geopolitical challenges and the levers for sustainable European industrial sovereignty.Read the Policy Paper 11/28/2025 COP30 - Should Climate Multilateralism Be Preserved Whatever it Takes? Joseph Dellatte 11/20/2025 Industrial Sovereignty: Reuse, a Decisive Lever for Europe Célia Rennesson 05/21/2025 2040 Target and the Risk of Inaction Joseph Dellatte 11/05/2025 COP30: Multilateralism on Life Support Joseph Dellatte