The political changes in the heart of Europe at the end of the 1990s brought back former border regions and infrastructure-disadvantaged territories in the middle of Europe. The integration of the Central Eastern European (CEE) countries into the European Union influenced and changed the border regions in particular and freed them from their shadow image. In short, the rarely connected western and eastern European networks need to grow together. In this context, the network of the chemical industry in CEE countries can be used as a good example to show how networks react to disruptive events and how difficult it is to merge separately evolved networks.

Background for Logistics Optimizations
Before World War II, almost all the countries in the region had an industry policy with a national focus. This resulted in national supply chains and networks as well as a low internationalization level of the production system. World War II led to the division of Europe into two parts; this caused a decline of the few international supply chains that had existed in the region. The few old cross-border supply chains were discontinued, and politically optimized logistics systems were established. In the 1990s after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the political correctness wasn't needed anymore and new supply chains were built up over time.
Bulk chemical investment cycles can last up to 50 years, and there were a lot of political changes in the last hundred years in Europe. Still, there is much more trade between Germany and its western European neighbors than with its eastern European partners - especially if one takes a look into trade volumes of chemical products.

Logistics Requirements
A closer look at the logistical requirements of the chemical industry reveals a second explanation about the chemical production capacities in CEE. The further upstream the production is positioned in supply chains based on crude oil, the closer the production facilities have to be to an international seaport, major waterways or a pipeline for direct supply - because the first steps in the chain can run efficiently only in big production batches and facilities. Logically, the big cracker capacities in Europe are situated either at the seaside or at big rivers like the Rhine or the Danube. These facilities are connected on the import side with the transportation system of international (inland) waterways to import the crude oil, and on the export side these locations are mostly connected to a pipeline system with their customers (e.g., ethylene pipelines). The more specific the products get, the smaller the production batches get, the less a connection to the mass-transportation systems like inland waterways or railway is needed. But it is also obvious that the next production steps should be located somewhere between the previous steps and customers (e.g., the automotive industry). In addition there is need to take advantage of economics of scale to find appropriate locations.

Options For Development
The disruptive events in the region on one hand and the logistical requirements on the other hand explain easily why there are few chemical production sites in CEE. How can these circumstances be changed? First, as always, in the chemical industry things are changing quite slowly because of the huge investment sums and the long investment circles. To change the supply network of the chemical industry in Europe there has to be a change in one of the two ends of the supply chain or in the logistical transportation network itself.
First, changes on the supply side could be the widely discussed replacement of crude oil, e.g., natural gas from non-renewable sources like the shale gas production at the moment in the U.S. or from renewable sources like decentralized produced biogas from organic sources. Pipelines can easily transport natural gas and a well-established pipeline network for natural gas is running currently in Europe, e.g., from Russia to Germany. The replacement of crude oil in the future chemical supply chain could change the network totally.
Second, changes on the demand side can be stated already with the construction of new car production facilities in CEE. About 20% of the produced cars in the European Union are built in the Czech and the Slovak Republic as well as Poland. Twenty years ago these production facilities didn't produce many cars and didn't source any material in the western part of the European Union. The increase of the demand for products in the CEE countries could change the network totally.
The third possibility to strengthen CEE's chemical industry is to invest massively in the infrastructure and especially in the railroad networks and inland waterways. Twenty years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the highway network isn't finished by far. Some good examples in the east-west direction need to be completed by a lot of axes in the north-south direction to establish a strong highway network. Some of them are planned as Pan-European corridors.
A close look at the freight railway network in Europe, especially in CEE, reveals that more investments and more time are needed. Almost all the planned projects concerning railway networks focus mainly on passenger transport. The special needs of freight railway networks are considered merely secondly.
A closer look at Western Europe reveals a lot of investment, e.g., at the River Rhine, but it is missing a lot of cooperation between the countries and counties. There is not much free railway capacity on the left or the right bank of the River Rhine. Projects that should increase transportation capacities, like the Betuweroute, do not continue in Germany. The strengthening of the railway infrastructure in Switzerland led to massive infrastructural problems in Italy (Region Novara) and in Germany (Baden Württemberg). The increase of shipments on the River Rhine by shifting transports from street or rail adds much value. This requires infrastructure investments for barrages or deepening of the River Rhine in order to continue shipping in low water. However, planning as well as cooperation between relevant regions can already forecast effects of these infrastructural improvements into the location planning.
If the fastest way by train from Frankfurt to Prague is by taking the Deutsche Bahn Express Bus, nobody needs to wonder about the situation of freight trains. The situation on the second mass transportation system in CEE - the inland waterway - is even worse. Furthermore, because of mountainous areas in the middle of CEE, missing investment for years, and the absence of big and straight rivers like the River Rhine, transport by inland waterway is and will stay a niche product. The status quo of improving the infrastructural network in CEE will mean that most of the transports, if suitable, will continue to use road transportation. For industries that require mass transportation, the single alternative for efficient supply remains either railway or waterway. There is no realistic future in CEE as long there is no real understanding of the need for mass transportation.

Collaboration Is Required
The described region has had a changeful history, which hasn't been peaceful; a lot of prejudices have been set up. These circumstances influenced the different trade relations in the region. With the enlargement of the European Union, the whole region has the chance to move together as a real European center that can trade with its neighbors unobstructed for the first time in history.

The stakeholders in the region, including governments, and companies private and public, should cooperate more intensively than today. Thereby they can establish a strong logistics network, which (not just) serves the industries in the region, including all relevant modes of transportation for the chemical industry into a conjoint planning process. This could improve the forecast for economic development for the CEE region. As a result, Europe could see a new industrial core area with a dynamic economy, which wouldn't have to avoid comparisons with other boom regions in the world.