As usual, the 2017 edition of the Cosmetics Europe Week started with a speech delivered by the President of the European association. Loïc Armand also gave CosmeticOBS an interview, during which he presented the key figures of the European cosmetics industry, made an update on the actions taken over the past twelve months, and evoked the work to be done for the year to come.
‘Many things have changed over the past twelve months in Europe,’ Cosmetics Europe President Loïc Armand started as he opened the debate, ‘but there are at least two pieces of good news: the first is that the European Union is still alive! The second is that the cosmetics industry has maintained its strong growth and still represents a key sector in the economy.’
In 2016, the European cosmetics market was evaluated at almost 77 billion euros, and it is still the largest in the world. With its major companies, but also its 4,900 small and medium businesses, the industry is at the origin of 1.8 million jobs (56% of women, 44% of men): 190,000 direct jobs and over one million and a half indirect ones, including 27,800 scientists.
The danger of overlooking risk
However, similarly to 2016, the main theme of this 2017 edition was the defence of safety assessment based on the actual risk related to the use of a product by a consumer. ‘Beyond appearances [‘More than meets the eye’ was the theme of the 2017 Cosmetics Europe Week], we play a very particular role in consumers’ daily lives, in Europe and all around the world, by providing them with tangible benefits, …
