Audi’s decision to close its Brussels plant in February 2025 reflects a more general trend in the European economy: de-industrialisation. Euronews met the workers affected by this phenomenon to understand its tangible effects and analyse the solutions being considered to revitalise European industry
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00It's hate, because we are being thrown away despite all the efforts we have made for this factory to grow, to make a profit, we are being thrown away.
00:15I am in front of the Audi factory in Brussels, Belgium.
00:17Every year, more than 50,000 units of the German electric SUV model are produced here.
00:22But in the face of a drop in demand, the group's management decided to stop production in February 2025 and relocate it to Mexico.
00:30A situation that illustrates a more general trend in the European economy, deindustrialization.
00:40The term deindustrialization refers to the reduction of the share of industry in the creation of wealth in a country or region.
00:48At the European level, the value of the industry has dropped by nearly 18%, between 1991 and 2023, from 28.8% of GDP to 23.7%.
00:59This phenomenon affects all industrial sectors, such as the extractive industry, which produces raw materials, and the manufacturing industry, which transforms them into finished products.
01:09Deindustrialization is often translated by factory closures and collective dismissals.
01:15In the last four years alone, more than 850,000 industrial jobs have disappeared in Europe.
01:22The reasons are multiple and vary from country to country.
01:25But they mainly result from the automation of tasks and the relocation of production to lower-cost countries.
01:33In addition, there is the transition to a service economy, a purchasing power, high energy costs, and competition with countries such as China or the United States.
01:43The automotive sector is particularly exposed to these risks, representing more than 10% of European manufacturing production and 13.2 million direct and indirect jobs.
01:53Its decline threatens to weaken the entire European economy.
02:05The closure of Audi Brussels threatens the future of 3,000 direct employees and nearly 1,000 subcontractors.
02:10Many employees express their disappointment, even their anger, towards the management of the Audi Group, which made more than 6 billion euros in profits in 2023.
02:19Moreover, they do not understand why a factory engaged in the energy transition must close its doors, even though Europe wants to bet on it to slow down its deindustrialization.
02:29On September 16, 2024, thousands of people marched through the streets of Brussels to the European Parliament's headquarters to support industrial jobs at Audi and in the rest of Europe.
02:40Today, some subcontractors and Audi employees like Basile want to continue the struggle, but the determination of the early days seems to have given way to a certain resignation.
02:50What disappoints me is that there are a lot of people who are going to lose their jobs, and unfortunately we are not many, as usual.
02:56People are supportive on Facebook, I am Audi, I am a subcontractor, but when you look around, there is never anything.
03:04And that is a feeling of powerlessness that is huge and that has a huge impact on morale.
03:10Employed for five years on Audi's production lines, Basile fears the economic impact that the factory's closure will have on him and his loved ones.
03:18In my personal situation, losing this job is a disaster.
03:22I have a feeling of revolt, because in fact I am losing, let's say, part of my future.
03:28But we are not bankrupt, we are not bankrupt, and yet we close, we don't understand.
03:33We find it unfair, it's disgusting.
03:35We know that we are only figures compared to Audi, etc.
03:40We are nothing, but we leave as if we were clean males, we leave as if we never existed.
03:46And that is a feeling of revolt, it's ugly.
03:50Audi Brussels did not respond to our requests for an interview.
03:53However, the management indicated that the drop in the sales of electric vehicles, associated with structural problems such as high costs, justified the closure of the site and its relocation to Mexico.
04:03For Stavros, a union delegate with 40 years of experience in the construction industry, the factory's closure has a particularly bitter taste.
04:12Here we see a factory that runs, that works, that manufactures a product, but in reality it closes this company, it destroys this product.
04:21People said to the management, we came to work when we were sick, we have tendinitis, we have back problems, because we sacrificed ourselves to reach your objectives.
04:33We came to work on Saturdays, we did 20 minutes more.
04:37So in fact people explained to the management their anger, they explained that people are broken.
04:44We made 8 million cars, we made billions in Belgian francs and euros.
04:50And finally, I think they could manage to find an alternative solution so that the company stays.
05:01And that in reality, I realize that to reach the objectives of profit, we prefer to liquidate 3,000 jobs.
05:12If a recovery for the ODI site remains envisageable, the extent of the jobs saved remains uncertain.
05:17All over Europe, the automotive industry is weakening, Stellantis reduces its production in Italy, Michelin closes factories in France, and Volkswagen plans to close three sites in Germany.
05:27In question, a morose economic growth, the fall in sales, especially of electric vehicles, and an increased competition for more affordable Chinese models.
05:35The energy transition is disrupting the market and the European industry is struggling to adapt.
05:41To counter this deindustrialization, Europe wants to develop the industrial potential of the so-called green technologies.
05:52But in a context of strong global competition, it faces economic adversaries of size, such as China or the United States.
05:59Restarting the industry also requires massive investments.
06:03How to finance these projects and with what means?
06:06This is what I will try to understand with an expert on the subject.
06:11Bertrand Candelon examines the upheavals of the global economy and the trade war between great powers.
06:16In particular, the decision of the European Commission at the end of October to greatly increase import taxes on Chinese electric vehicles.
06:24What will be the reaction of Chinese companies?
06:27The reaction of Chinese companies will be to buy and establish themselves in Europe, in order to build cars on the European market and no longer pay their customs rights.
06:37But clearly, what does this show?
06:39It shows that we are in a commercial battle, a commercial war between the different blocs, the United States, China and Birx, and Europe.
06:49And these three blocs are trying to take power by the industry, by exports, because this industry is also a synonym of national sovereignty.
07:00The former president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, has recently estimated at 800 billion euros per year the need for additional investment to restart European competitiveness.
07:11His report should guide the work of the Commission as part of its industrial plan aimed at promoting active European industries in the transition to carbon neutrality.
07:21Mobilizing 800 billion euros is huge.
07:24And given the current state of public finances, it will mainly benefit large states that have adequate finances to invest in these industries that are carbon neutral.
07:38Due to common interests within the Union, this inequality in the financing capacities of each state risks to accentuate economic fractures in Europe and delay further its reindustrialization.