The EU Commission put forward a wide-ranging action plan for Europe’s automotive industry Wednesday, and proposed measures to introduce more flexibility in relation to CO2 targets.
The Commission confirmed it is to propose a focused amendment to the CO2 Standards Regulation for cars and vans this month. The amendment, if adopted, would enable car manufacturers to meet their compliance targets by averaging their performance over a three-year period (2025-2027), allowing them to offset any shortfalls in one or two years with excess achievements in the other year(s), while keeping the overall ambition on the 2025 targets.
The action plan for the automotive sector presents concrete actions that the Commission says will ensure a robust and sustainable automotive sector and help unleash its innovative power. To maintain a strong european production base and avoid strategic dependencies, the EU executive is to make available €1.8 billion to create a secure and competitive supply chain for battery raw materials, helping to support the growth of the European automotive industry.
“With this Action Plan, we are taking decisive steps to strengthen Europe’s industrial base, accelerate digitalisation and drive clean mobility,” said EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas: “Our goal is clear: to ensure that the next generation of vehicles is not just made in Europe, but innovated in Europe, powered by European technology, and built on European values.”
The Commission says it is working on ways to boost the demand for European zero-emission vehicles. The Action Plan includes measures that will provide incentives to switch to zero-emission vehicle and strengthen consumer trust through concrete measures, such as improved battery health and repairability.
Support the EU battery industry is seen as crucial and the EU will help it maintain a strong European production base, with financing under the Innovation Fund. The Commission will also look into direct production support to companies producing batteries and non-price criteria for components such as resilience requirements.
To help the EU automotive sector address the challenges related to skills shortages, mismatches and an ageing workforce, the European Fair Transition Observatory, as launched with the Clean Industrial Deal, will develop and collate data, to help pinpoint expected future “hot spots” of employment dislocations and skills gaps.
Finally, to make the EU automotive industry more resilient to fierce competition from overseas, the Commission says it will ensure a level playing field by using trade defence instruments, such as anti-subsidy measures, to protect European companies from unfair competition.
Communication: Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector
Communication: Decarbonise Corporate Fleets
Factsheet – Action Plan on the future of the automotive sector
