Commission Decision of 14 October 2010 re-launching of the CARS 21 High Level Group on the Competitiveness and Sustainable Growth of the Automotive Industry in the European Union

16.10.2010 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 280/32
COMMISSION DECISION
of 14 October 2010
re-launching of the CARS 21 High Level Group on the Competitiveness and Sustainable Growth of the Automotive Industry in the European Union
2010/C 280/08
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Whereas:
(1) Article 173 of the Treaty assigned the European Union and the Member States the task of ensuring that the conditions necessary for the competitiveness of the Union’s industry exist. Article 191 of the TFEU provides that the Union policy on the environment shall contribute to promoting measures preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment and combating climate change.
(2) As part of the Commission's industrial policy, the CARS 21 process (‘Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st century’), which was originally launched in 2005, made recommendations for the short-, medium and long-term public policy in the regulatory framework for the European Union automotive industry that enhances global competitiveness and employment while sustaining further progress in safety and environmental performance at a price affordable to the consumer.
(3) In its Communication ‘EUROPE 2020 — a European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’ (1) the Commission presents proposals to modernise and to decarbonise the transport sector and to promote new technologies including electric cars. The Flagship Initiative ‘An industrial policy for the globalisation era’ aims to establish an industrial policy creating the best environment to maintain and develop a strong, competitive and diversified industrial base in Europe as well as promoting sustainability by supporting the transition of manufacturing sectors to greater energy and resource efficiency. The Flagship Initiative ‘Resource Efficient Europe’ will encourage wide-ranging infrastructure measures such as the deployment of grid infrastructures of electrical mobility, intelligent traffic management and above all promoting new technologies including electric and hybrid cars.
(4) The Communication of the Commission ‘A European strategy on clean and energy efficient vehicles’ (2) defines short- to long-term goals to support research and innovation, to seek solutions of power generation and distribution, to stimulate employment and to encourage market uptake of green vehicles by consumers.
(5) It is therefore necessary to set up a group of experts in the field of competitiveness and sustainable growth of the European Union automotive industry, building on the CARS 21 process, and to define its tasks and structure.
(6) The group should help to identify policies and measures at European Union level, national level and by other stakeholders fostering the competitiveness and sustainable growth of the European Union automotive industry.
(7) The group should be composed of representatives of the European Parliament, the Commission, the Member States and relevant stakeholders of industry and civil society, in particular representatives of consumers, trade unions and non-governmental organisations.
(8) Rules on disclosure of information by members of the group should be provided for, without prejudice to the Commission's rules on security as set out in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 29 November 2001 amending its internal Rules of Procedure (3).
(9) Personal data should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (4).
(10) It is appropriate to fix a period for the application of this Decision. The Commission will in due time consider the advisability of an extension,