A new strategy for the European automotive industry has just been agreed upon and launched by the European Commission with the aim to keep the manufacturing of vehicles and motor cars viable on a long-term basis at affordable prices.
The strategy, called A Competitive Automotive Regulatory Framework for the 21st Century, outlines the direction in which the commission intends to steer future automotive policy.
In the spirit of better regulation, the strategy – communicated by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – aims to promote coherent interaction between different policy areas, provide predictability and seek the protection of public interest while attempting to reduce the regulatory burden on industry. In this light the strategy encompasses a variety of areas highlighting environmental sustainability, reduction of administrative burdens, road safety, trade and overseas markets and research.
According to the commission, if these aspects are addressed in a timely manner, the EU’s automotive industry will remain a strong and innovative world leader. By positively taking up the climate change challenge, the automotive industries will preserve and enhance their competitiveness in the long term. This is of crucial importance both for consumers as well as for workers.
Considering that the automotive industry is at the core of the European economy – representing three per cent of the European GDP and seven per cent of employment in the manufacturing sector – the commission is aware that it needs to strike a balance between the need for global competitiveness and progress in safety and environmental performance, hence the emphasis on research and development.
In line with its policy to improve the quality of lawmaking, and to face the challenges of a more global competition, in 2004 the commission asked the high level group CARS 21 – which brought together all the main stakeholders including consumer and environmental organisations – to advise on future policy.
The strategy aims at reducing administrative burdens by having a one single regulation valid globally, for instance on tyres, safety glass, fog lamps and seatbelts.
The commission wants to reduce compliance costs and make administrative procedures less costly and less time-consuming.
Keeping in mind the importance given to the environment, the strategy lists measures to have an environmentally sustainable road transport particularly by reducing CO2 emissions, focusing on traffic management, drivers’ behaviour as well as infrastructure.
Further to this the commission believes that the strategy should combine the improvement in vehicle technology, road infrastructure as well as enforcement.
The strategy proposes 11 future actions which include the mandatory inclusion of electronic stability control and seat belt reminders as well as obligatory daytime running lights for new vehicles.
The communication strategy also proposes to assess the potential of using bi-lateral trade agreements, such as in the Asian region, to improve market access while reinforcing the need to enforce intellectual property rights globally.
Finally the communication emphasises research and development. About five per cent of the automotive industry’s turnover is invested into research and product development, thus being the largest R&D investor in Europe. The commission identified clean renewable fuels, intelligent vehicles and roads as core research priorities.
In 2009 the commission is expected to conduct a mid-term review of the recommendations proposed by CARS 21 to monitor progress made by all relevant stakeholders.
The communication, which reflects a wide consultation process and dialogue on automotive issues, can be accessed on-line at: http://ec.europa.
eu/enterprise/automotive/
pagesbackground/competitiveness/com_2007_22/en.pdf.
Cleavon Vella is consultation coordinator, Forum Malta fl-Ewropa
[email protected]