Brussels, 07/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will bring forward an action plan in October to help the European automotive industry overcome the crisis. Aid for innovation will be increased but there are no plans for any reduction in over-capacity.
At the presentation of the latest conclusions of the high-level group on the competitiveness of the automotive industry, CARS 21, on Wednesday 6 June, Industry Commission Antonio Tajani lifted the veil on the broad thrust of an action plan to help the motor industry, which will be presented in the autumn and which will act on three fronts. To promote innovation in a sector which every year invests almost €28 billion in R&D, Tajani proposes increasing European funding for R&D by €500 million, taking the proposed allocation for the period from 2004 to 2020 to €1.5 billion. “We have to try to anticipate what the situation will be in 2050, with almost 2.5 cars worldwide. We have to begin to develop electric, hydrogen-powered and hybrid cars”, he told Belgian daily L'Echo. The second area for specific action is smart regulation, the aim being to simplify regulations to bring about cost reductions for sector players. Lastly, Tajani wants to help an industry, on which 12 million jobs depend and which has a trade balance of €90 billion, in its internationalisation by being tougher in negotiating trade agreements with third country partners. However, although the issue was flagged up as being a “problem” by the CARS21 group report, there will be no support within the plan to deal with overcapacity, reckoned to be around 20%. The issue is a bone of contention among constructors themselves, between those who want EU support to help deal with possible closures of industrial sites and those, such as the German constructors, who are working at full capacity. Apart from the difficulty in justifying such support in terms of EU state aid rules, creating a special framework for the automotive industry through the European social fund is “very unlikely”, according to a source quoted by French daily Les Echos.
The CARS21 group's 84-page report provides, the Commission says, a “complete” vision for the automotive industry to 2020, providing recommendations for rapid progress on important subjects such as electro-mobility, road safety, market access strategy and a review of the CO2 emissions from cars and vans.
In a press release welcoming the CARS21 group's recommendations, President of the industry's trade association ACEA and Chief Executive of FIAT S.p.A. Sergio Marchionne, who was at Commissioner's Tajani's side when talking to the press, stressed in particular the need for greater reciprocity in trade relations with third countries, both in removing trade barriers and in dismantling non-tariff barriers. “Trade policy and industrial policy must be aligned and reliable”, he argued. He also called for a “more supportive” regulatory framework in order to sustain and strengthen the sector's position in the fiercely competitive global market place. “Regulation, rigid by nature, too often adds undue complexity and costs, or limits flexibility. The European manufacturers are world leaders in CO2-reduction technologies, road safety solutions and intelligent mobility concepts. 'Smarter' policies and regulations can and should reinforce the industry's competitiveness, and benefit the European economy as a whole”, he stated. (EH/transl.rt)