At a conference of the Automotive Regions Alliance (ARA) in Bilbao (Spain) on Wednesday 27 May, Europe’s leading automotive regions expressed their support for the road transport and automotive industry legislation currently being drawn up at European level.
The ‘Bilbao Declaration’, adopted during this conference, primarily calls for strengthening the regional level in EU industrial policy.
As Europe faces mounting pressure from Chinese competition in the electric vehicle sector and from its reliance on supply chains, the declaration points out that regions do not merely participate in implementing European policies; they also constitute “the level of government closest to factories, suppliers and workers, the very drivers of the transition”.
The authors of the declaration also voiced their support for the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) (see EUROPE 13821/1) and the ‘Automotive Package’ (see EUROPE 13774/13). The regions came out in favour of introducing a ‘Made in EU’ requirement within the IAA, emphasising that this measure must bolster European industrial sovereignty while remaining consistent with the EU’s international commitments, notably within the framework of its free trade agreements, and must avoid any disruption to the European automotive industry’s supply chains.
To consult the Bilbao Declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/m24 (Original version in French by Juliette Verdes)