Hot Seat: Dr. Roland Appel | Bavarian Chemical Associations

Last updated on: 10 Oct, 2024

Today we welcome Dr Roland Appel to our Hot Seat. Since Augsut 2024 he is Managing Director of the Bavarian Chemical Associations – the employers’ association VBCI and the trade association VCI Bayern. They coordinate the opinion-forming processes within the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in Bavaria and represent their economic and socio-political interests vis-à-vis politicians, authorities, collective bargaining partners and the public.

Mr Appel explains the aims of the association’s work, explains support options for companies and sheds light on cooperation with the state government. Read the full interview to find out how the Bavarian Chemical Associations are working to create favourable economic conditions and support the industry with current challenges. 


Dear Roland, congratulations on your new position as Managing Director of the Bavarian Chemical Associations. We wish you every success in this role.  

What are your main goals as the new Managing Director and what do you see as the main tasks for the chemical associations in Bavaria in order to represent the interests of the chemical industry in the best possible way? 

The chemical and pharmaceutical sector is the heart of German industry. 95 per cent of all industrial products are based on chemical products – ultimately, there is probably hardly any industry that can do without chemical products! Chemical innovations are both a prerequisite and the key to a sustainable transformation, whether in climate protection, digitalisation, health protection or food security. Politicians and society must become much more aware of this relevance. After all, our industry has set out on the path towards the climate-neutral transformation of its processes – but is unfortunately facing increasingly poor framework conditions in Germany. Energy costs that are too high in international comparison, labour costs, tax burdens and the considerable complexity costs caused by overregulation: these structural challenges must now be tackled urgently and sustainably by politicians. As an industry representative organisation, we are working intensively in this area. 

Bavaria is an important centre for the chemical industry in Germany. How are the chemical associations working together with the Bavarian state government to improve the framework conditions for the chemical industry in Bavaria and what successes have already been achieved? 

Exactly, Bavaria is an important chemical state – with innovative companies of all sizes (but mostly characterised by SMEs!), with important chemical regions such as ChemDelta Bavaria, but also with excellent university and non-university research institutions. The state government is also aware of this. As the voice of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, we are in constant dialogue with politicians and administrators – from major location policy issues to detailed technical and professional assessments. This applies to Bavaria, but of course also at federal and European level – here in close co-operation with our federal associations VCI and BAVC. For us, serious, transparent and fact-based representation of interests is a matter of course. Formats such as the Bavarian Pharma Summit and the joint declarations on strengthening the pharmaceutical industry, recommendations for action developed in the Bavarian Environmental and Climate Pact for the optimisation of approval procedures and political support for important infrastructure projects (e.g. an additional 380 kV line for the climate-neutral transformation of the Bavarian chemical triangle) are just a few examples of the value of continuous dialogue within the industry. Incidentally, the Bavarian chemical associations have also been involved in the state’s cluster offensive from the outset and are close partners of the Chemical Cluster Bavaria. This is a real model for success! 

The chemical industry is facing major challenges such as the energy transition, digitalisation and sustainability. How do the Bavarian chemical associations specifically support their member companies in tackling these tasks? 

The service portfolio of our association network is very wide-ranging. Its core task is the representation of interests, i.e. the aggregation of industry opinions and the representation of these positions as a link between companies, politics, administration and the public. The focus is on the best possible framework conditions for sustainable industrial value creation in Bavaria – and this in the most diverse facets and policy areas (such as the environment, energy, innovation, etc.). But there is of course much more to the association’s work. From the development of guidelines and specific support materials (e.g. for the implementation of sustainability reporting requirements as part of the Chemical Sustainability Initiative3) to networking and the practical exchange of experience (e.g. for the further improvement of occupational safety) and cross-media public relations work, there are many fields of activity. I would also like to highlight the service in the area of labour law. This is because the VBCI employers’ association not only negotiates collective agreements with our social partner. Our team of lawyers is a real centre of expertise and advises companies on many labour law issues. In fact, one of the greatest assets of our organisation is the highly committed and professional team that is passionately committed to the interests of our industry! 

Dear Roland, thank you very much for the insights. We are very much looking forward to continuing our collaboration!


Dr Roland Appel (41) studied chemistry and biochemistry at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he completed his doctorate in 2011 in the field of physical-organic chemistry. After a postdoctoral stay at Harvard University, he began his professional career in 2013 in an interface function between the Bavarian Chemical Cluster and the Bavarian Chemical Associations, to which he moved in 2014 as an economic policy advisor and has since held several positions. In August 2024, Roland Appel was appointed Managing Director of the Bavarian Chemical Associations, where he is responsible for economic policy, association communication and seminars, among other things. 

The Bavarian chemical associations are the employers’ organisation Verein der Bayerischen Chemischen Industrie e.V. (VBCI) and the trade association Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V., Landesverband Bayern (VCI-LV Bayern). They coordinate the opinion-forming processes of around 500 companies within the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in Bavaria and represent their economic and socio-political interests vis-à-vis politicians, authorities, collective bargaining partners and the public. More information at www.bayerische-chemieverbaende.de