Commission publishes Communication on greening the automotive sector
Monday, 02 March 2009 17:49 | 
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The Commission published a policy paper on 25 February in response to a request made by governments to help rescue the car industry, with a call for greater investment in green technology in future. Member States had asked the EU to come up with a strategy for helping the automotive sector through the financial crisis, and ultimately to ensure the long term stability and profitability of the industry. So far the economic climate has prompted a 20% downturn in demand in the sector, with further gloomy predictions in 2009, leading the Commission to put forward its recommendations.
Such investment is not only desirable on the grounds that it should help the car industry through a difficult time now, but a necessary adaptive measure for the future. As industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen pointed out ‘The commission and all manufacturers agree that in future the European car industry must be green or it will cease to exist’.
The paper calls for several specific policy changes to be implemented to ‘assist industry to implement the radical technological change required by the climate change challenge’, building upon the European Economic Recovery Plan from 2008.
These would consist of various measures to improve access to credit for large manufacturers wanting to implement clean technologies, as well as a clarification over what criteria should govern eligibility for state aid. One such measure is providing financial incentives for car-makers scrapping old cars in favour of new ones, where the payment is dependent on the new cars meeting set green performance standards. Greater state aid investment into research and development of greener technology is another method suggested by the Commission.
This would result in several beneficial outcomes according to the Communication, including boosting the demand for new vehicles and minimising social costs, as well as the clear advantage of pushing the industry towards a cleaner future.
The carmaker’s association Acea has however been quick to point out that too few of these measures had already been put into place. While it appears to support the message of the paper, it urges EU leaders to ‘give the political message to lift bureaucratic barriers and speed up implementation’.
Such investment is not only desirable on the grounds that it should help the car industry through a difficult time now, but a necessary adaptive measure for the future. As industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen pointed out ‘The commission and all manufacturers agree that in future the European car industry must be green or it will cease to exist’.
The paper calls for several specific policy changes to be implemented to ‘assist industry to implement the radical technological change required by the climate change challenge’, building upon the European Economic Recovery Plan from 2008.
These would consist of various measures to improve access to credit for large manufacturers wanting to implement clean technologies, as well as a clarification over what criteria should govern eligibility for state aid. One such measure is providing financial incentives for car-makers scrapping old cars in favour of new ones, where the payment is dependent on the new cars meeting set green performance standards. Greater state aid investment into research and development of greener technology is another method suggested by the Commission.
This would result in several beneficial outcomes according to the Communication, including boosting the demand for new vehicles and minimising social costs, as well as the clear advantage of pushing the industry towards a cleaner future.
The carmaker’s association Acea has however been quick to point out that too few of these measures had already been put into place. While it appears to support the message of the paper, it urges EU leaders to ‘give the political message to lift bureaucratic barriers and speed up implementation’.
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