4.3.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 105/31
Economy: Maintaining and developing the full automotive supply chain inside the EU 3.6.
Promoting industrial collaboration.
The huge R & D budgets (currently EUR 60 billion per year) that are currently invested in the development of decarbonised, connected, automated and shared mobility require industrial collaboration and public-private partnerships.
In this respect, the roll-out of innovation partnerships under cluster 5 (climate, energy, mobility) of Horizon Europe (clean hydrogen, batteries, connected and automated mobility, zero-emission road transport, driving urban transition) deserves full support.
Furthermore, industrial alliances under the auspices of the European Commission (like for batteries, hydrogen, raw materials and the one announced for the Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Value Chain) provide a broad and open platform to establish strategic roadmaps and the coordination of R & D, investments and the market introduction of new innovations.
Finally, pooling public and private resources in IPCEIs will clearly strengthen the European automotive supply chain, reduce strategic dependencies and foster the twin green and digital transition.
New IPCEIs have to be considered: connected and automated cars, the circular economy, integration of energy systems, supply of raw materials, the data economy, semiconductors.
3.7.
Challenges of developing a sustainable and circular battery value chain (8) inside the EU Localising the manufacture of batteries and fuel cells must be a crucial EU objective.
EU battery and hydrogen alliances deserve to be supported and sufficient resources must be made available to them.
These industrial alliances must trigger massive investments in production facilities and provide thousands of jobs in Europe.
Care will have to be taken to prevent fractures between the regions of Europe, as is currently visible.
3.8.
The megatrend of connected and automated cars could lead to a shift in value added from selling and servicing vehicles towards new disruptive business models based on data-enabled services and mobility as a service.
The automotive ecosystem must be prepared for entering and securing its presence in these new business models.
This will require technological and regulatory standards to provide new innovative mobility services such as pay per use, location-based advertising, distance updates/maintenance of vehicles.
Building a European mobility data space will also be key in securing European leadership in digital mobility services.
It will also be necessary to deploy the requisite digital communications infrastructure and to design roadmaps for increasing levels of automation (including a framework for large-scale testing, access to data, and a new approach to the type approval of vehicles).
Furthermore, the long-term impact of increasingly automated vehicles, in particular on jobs and ethical issues, needs to be assessed as this will be important to ensure social acceptance.
Finally, as freight transport may intensify in the future (e-commerce), intelligent transport mobility solutions need to be developed based on the multimodal organisation of transport, cost-efficiency (high-capacity vehicle combinations), and sustainable transport modes, using automation and connectivity solutions in the logistics chain.
3.9.
Smart technologies and digital solutions based on the ‘Industry 4.0 paradigm’ must support the integration of production systems and help to make them more flexible.
Enhanced production systems (not only integration of the production processes at company level) along the full supply chain will make automotive supply chains more resilient and underpin competitiveness.
Digitalisation has to be supported by creating an industrial data space for the sector.
However, these technologies also entail increased automation with a negative jobs impact, and that has to be addressed.
3.10.
Supporting a global level playing field.
Europe must have the ambition to maintain its strong export position in the automotive industry.
Therefore, actions must be taken to:
— strive for reciprocity in trade relations (market access, public procurement, investments, respect of IPRs, subsidies);
— conclude bilateral free trade agreements (including a chapter on automotive/road transport);
— fight against unfair trading practices (subsidies, bilateral free trade agreements, differences in the price of carbon, social and environmental dumping);
— promote international cooperation on clean cars and low-carbon fuel technologies.
(8)
In this respect the role of the European battery regulation is described in detail in opinion OJ C 220, 9.6.2021, p. 128.