Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘CARS 2020: action plan for a competitive and sustainable automotive industry in Europe’
Date: 2013-10-09
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions, Provisional data
Subjects: Structural Funds, action programme, aid for restructuring, biofuel, competitiveness, motor vehicle industry, recycling technology, research and development, sustainable development








C_2013356EN.01005501.xml










5.12.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 356/55





Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘CARS 2020: action plan for a competitive and sustainable automotive industry in Europe’
2013/C 356/10
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS






—


notes that the difficulties experienced by the car industry in many Member States are connected with structural causes that require far-reaching changes;










—


stresses the importance of exploiting every opportunity at local and regional authority level. These include, depending on their competences within each country, the reduction of red tape, the acceleration of approval procedures, (re)training measures, the establishment of skill and innovation centres, and calls for tender for innovative projects;










—


points to the opportunities afforded by funding for research and development projects or the establishment of clusters. In some regions, ‘car clusters’ are being developed into ‘mobility clusters’, by involving rail systems and air travel and even bicycles — in particular e-bikes and bicycles with ancillary electric motors (pedelecs). Through diversification, it has been possible to maintain capacity utilisation, even in times of crisis. This trend can be encouraged, particularly through synergies in innovation and technology;










—


warmly welcomes the European Commission's approach of setting up a high-level group of experts tasked with observing the implementation and fine-tuning of the action plan, and welcomes the involvement of the Committee of the Regions in its work;










Rapporteur:


Christian BUCHMANN (AT/EPP), Styrian regional government Minister




Reference document


Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on CARS 2020: Action Plan for a competitive and sustainable automotive industry in Europe
COM(2012) 636 final




I.   GENERAL COMMENTS







1.


The automotive industry directly and indirectly supports 12 million jobs in the EU and spends EUR 28 billion on research and development (2009). It is a growth multiplier that accounts for a significant, positive proportion of the EU's trade balance.










2.


The European automotive industry is suffering a serious crisis that looks likely to worsen and that will have repercussions for the entire European economy.










3.


While markets outside Europe such as those in the BRIC countries are booming, European demand for vehicles is stagnating, as shown by trends in new registrations for passenger vehicles. The number of new vehicle registrations fell by 8.7 % in January 2013 to 885 159, which is the lowest level in any January since records began (1).










4.


European manufacturers are or have been able to benefit only to a limited extent and in different ways from the potential on foreign markets. While PSA Peugeot Citroen, Ford and Fiat are making substantial losses, premium companies such as BMW, Audi and Daimler initially saw increases in their sales figures. For mass producers who have hitherto sold their small and medium-sized cars primarily in Europe, the economic situation is becoming increasingly difficult.










5.


Experts do not expect the situation to improve over the next three years. Further restructuring, job losses and factory closures are to be expected in the automotive industry. At the same time, the issue of the extent of possible support and boosting research and development activities needs to be addressed.




II.   POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS






6.


notes that the difficulties experienced by the car industry in many Member States are connected with structural causes that require far-reaching changes;










7.


stresses that these changes must be accompanied by close social dialogue so that the impact on those affected can be limited as far as possible;










8.


expressly welcomes the CARS 2020 Commission Communication, which proposes an Action Plan for a competitive and sustainable automotive industry in Europe;










9.


shares the European Commission's view that these measures must be implemented quickly in the light of the situation outlined above;










10.


points out that the European automotive industry should contribute to a society that is sustainable over the long term. In this connection, environmental, climate and road safety measures will be very important;










11.


warmly welcomes the European Commission's approach of setting up a high-level group of experts tasked with observing the implementation and fine-tuning of the action plan, and welcomes the involvement of the Committee of the Regions in the work of the high-level group of experts;










12.


is very concerned at the apparent lack of consistency in the European Commission's proposals. The Directorates-General for enterprise, climate, the environment, employment, the single market or trade often work at cross purposes, and the initiatives in the various policy areas are insufficiently coordinated;










13.


refers, for example, to the restrictions on aid to large enterprises and the current, very low threshold for the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as already set out in the CoR opinion on the guidelines for regional State aids 2014-2020 (CdR 2232-2012 _00_00_TRA_AC);










14.


in this context, stresses the major importance of flexible instruments to support firms in difficulty and refers in this context to the CoR opinion on the EU guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (CdR 240-2013_00_00_TRA_AC);










15.


points out that drawing up EU guidelines on financial incentives for promoting clean vehicles was one of the recommendations of the CARS 21 final report adopted in June 2012. Thus regrets that the Commission opted to draw up these guidelines only in the form of a working document, rather than a legislative text. Also regrets that this working document contains only five non-binding ‘recommended principles’ and that it is vague on the impact of the significant disparities in fiscal incentives on the functioning of the internal market;










16.


stresses the importance of exploiting every opportunity at local and regional authority level. These include, depending on their competences within each country, the reduction of red tape, the acceleration of approval procedures, (re)training measures, the establishment of skill and innovation centres, and calls for tender for innovative projects;










17.


would note in this connection that one initiative that could be taken at local or regional level is cooperation regarding shared testing environments for the European automotive industry. These joint projects could involve local and regional authorities, the industry, researchers, etc., and could potentially reduce the automotive industry's overall development costs significantly and have a positive long-term effect on competitiveness on the world stage;










18.


points out that the Communication focuses on continuing the quest for energy efficient vehicles whilst avoiding a particularly important point for both corporate competitiveness and the environment, i.e. the energy efficiency of vehicle manufacturing plants themselves and the support industry which should figure as an area of work to be considered as part of Cars 2020;





INVESTMENT IN R&D







19.


agrees with the European Commission that investment in research and development play a key role in the future development of the European automotive industry, as already explained in the CoR opinion on Horizon 2020 — The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (CdR 402/2011 fin);










20.


would highlight inter alia demographic change, which accentuates the need for more significant investment in research and development. An ageing population brings with it new requirements in terms of adapting vehicle technologies and functions to meet the changing needs of the older people using those vehicles. More efficient, more comfortable, safer, quieter, more connected and more user-friendly vehicles may thus constitute modern competitive factors that could strengthen the European automotive industry in the long term;










21.


stresses that SMEs in particular play an important role in the automotive industry as innovators in the supply chain and in creating jobs. The European aid referred to in CARS 2020 would be extremely important here;










22.


points to the experience from the research framework programmes of recent years, which have left SMEs able to reap only limited benefits from funding under European research programmes, despite the Commission's efforts to improve. The causes of this are the heavy bureaucratic burden and the long lead times, but also the inadequate level of overall funding and the consequently low number of projects supported;










23.


supports the European Commission's proposals to simplify project funding in Horizon 2020 and accordingly calls on the EP to support the current proposals to cut red tape so as to reduce the burden of monitoring;










24.


regrets that the European Commission's proposals for Horizon 2020 funding were not taken up in full;





THE ROLE OF THE STRUCTURAL FUNDS







25.


argues for an optimal use of structural funds by regional and local authorities to the extent permitted under rules on state aid;










26.


points to the opportunities afforded by the Structural Funds, including, for example, funding for research and development projects or the establishment of clusters. In some regions, ‘car clusters’ are being developed into ‘mobility clusters’, by involving rail systems and air travel and even bicycles — in particular e-bikes and bicycles with ancillary electric motors (pedelecs). Through diversification, it has been possible to maintain capacity utilisation, even in times of crisis. This trend can be encouraged, particularly through synergies in innovation and technology;





SKILLS







27.


highlights the problems, also mentioned in the CARS 2020 communication, in relation to education and training, demographic change, the skills shortage and the noticeable lack of young graduates with technical degrees;










28.


stresses the need for wise use of ESF funding for further training of employees who are not yet threatened with unemployment. It is up to the Member States to plan the use of ESF resources. In so doing they should ensure that the specific development requirements of the region concerned are taken into consideration;










29.


in this context, supports the European Parliament's request for the Commission to submit a proposal for a directive on information and consultation of workers, anticipation and management of restructuring;










30.


calls for the EGF to be given sufficient resources and flexibility to be able to mitigate the effects of globalisation on European businesses and their staff;










31.


points to the positive experiences with early training of young people in the twin-track training system, in which businesses themselves train workers in the skills they need and young people have a good chance of finding work immediately once they have completed training;










32.


supports targeted measures to make technical professions more attractive to women. Across Europe fewer than 10 % of graduates with technical degrees are women. Experience in individual regions has shown that, especially in R&D, women have a particularly valuable awareness that is greatly valued in automobile design. Moreover, constituting more than 50 % of buyers on this market, women represent the largest segment of buyers;










33.


encourages continued cooperation between vocational education systems and business, which it sees as a means of more closely aligning curricula with changing labour market needs;





ALTERNATIVE FUELS AND THE NECESSARY INFRASTRUCTURE







34.


calls on the industry to step up the development of alternative propulsion technologies and to bring practical solutions to market so that climate goals can be reached, but also to make economic use of advances in technology (cutting the cost of fuels used, trade balance, jobs in creating biofuels, etc.) and energy saving. This also includes processes and technologies for storing new energy resources;










35.


suggests that there be an in-depth exchange of information between all Member States on successful practices in cooperation between vocational education systems and businesses, so that all regions can benefit from them;










36.


in this context, calls for the development of different technologies to be stimulated by specific goals and for no alternative to be ruled out. Depending on the application, individual technologies have strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, the whole energy balance, including the energy consumption involved in fuel production, should be taken into account when regulating the use of alternative fuels from renewable resources;










37.


in this context, stresses the importance of the provision of appropriate infrastructure, without which it is difficult to bring products to market. Together, therefore, efforts should be made to push ahead with alternative fuels and to create the infrastructure needed for them; this will require coordinating committees to be set up between the sector and those in charge of infrastructure planning. Developing these infrastructures should be based on prior studies and integrated mobility plans that will make it possible to examine different options in terms of the various modes of transport and the requirements of the region or local authority;










38.


calls for the development of European guidelines on financial incentives to promote clean vehicles, which must be based on objective and available data such as CO2 emissions;










39.


in this context, welcomes the European Commission's initiative Clean power for transport and refers to the CoR's opinion on the subject (CdR 28-2013_00_00_TRA_AC);










40.


notes that there are innovative solutions in the area of public procurement. Alternative propulsion technologies can be given special support through public investment, particularly in urban areas (fleet conversion);










41.


points out that there are many success stories from regions and municipalities where new ground has been broken with a mixture of promotion of electric vehicles, parking space management, and infrastructure (electric charging stations);





LIFECYCLE APPROACH AND RECYCLING







42.


refers to EU Directive 2000/53/EC of 18 September 2000, which stipulates that as of 2015, 95 % of a car's weight in materials will have to be recycled. Thus resource consumption can be cut back by using recovered resources, and dependence on raw material imports can be reduced. At the same time, process-oriented recycling is becoming the basis for a continuous process of adding value and is creating skilled jobs in the regions of Europe;










43.


stresses that an approach to life cycle consistent with the above objectives already begins with vehicle design, also covers all the environmentally relevant effects in the production process, includes the operational phase and, at the end, recycling and/or processing for subsequent re-use as well;










44.


points out that this comprehensive approach above all creates great opportunities in developing new sustainable materials and helps meet the CO2 targets enshrined in the EU 2020 strategy;










45.


stresses that the export of more than 75 % of used vehicles at the end of their product lifecycle represents a massive loss of resource potential and means that, to produce new vehicles, new raw materials (rare earths) imported from Asia must be used;










46.


emphasises the important function of recycling in this context in creating jobs and reducing dependency on raw material suppliers;










47.


therefore calls for more concerted efforts to use old vehicles as resources. The aim should be to create clear rules on recycling obligations and to push for the development of sustainable materials;










48.


requests a greater attention to be put on the second hand car market and the analysis on consumers’ habits during the decision making process regarding the evaluation of the automotive industry and afferent issues;










49.


it is unfortunate that the action plan mentions only one paragraph about the second hand car market and points out the aging car fleet characteristic to the EU’s Eastern countries. These are caused by the connection between the cheaper, second hand car dealership, the prices of new cars and the average net wage, as well as due to the decline of the standard of living.





Brussels, 9 October 2013.


The President of the Committee of the Regions

Ramón Luis VALCÁRCEL SISO





(1)  Data from ACEA — European Automobile Manufacturers' Association:
http://www.acea.be/index.php/news/news_detail/passenger_car_registrations_-8.7_in_january_2013 [21.2.2013].