EU car industry faces high energy costs, EV transition, job losses, and US tariff threats. European Commission seeks solutions to boost innovation amid fierce competition from cheaper Asian manufacturers.
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00:00High energy prices, cheap competition from the east, the cost of transition to electric
00:11cars, and the redundancies that go with them are hitting the European car sector.
00:18Adding to the uncertainty, the new Trump administration is threatening to impose tariffs.
00:23In this situation, the European Commission has called for a dialogue with the leading
00:27European players in the car industry.
00:31Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said the fundamental question
00:34is, what is still missing to unleash the innovative power of European companies?
00:39We asked one of the participants.
00:42What is missing?
00:45We need to really make sure that Europe as a whole becomes more competitive globally,
00:50so that it's able to compete with China, with the US.
00:55And that indeed means unleashing the innovative capacity that the industry has, but also making
01:01it more affordable and profitable to manufacture in Europe.
01:05So reduce costs of energy, but also of regulation.
01:09Take away permits that take a long time today to secure.
01:14Make sure that there is less regulation that is blocking, but rather help dictate less
01:21and incentivize more.
01:24The European car industry employs 13 million people in more than 250 production units.
01:30Every year, 15 million cars are produced and the sector accounts for 7% of European GDP.
01:36The first consultation will be followed by others, and on the 5th of March, the European
01:41Commission will present an action plan.
01:43We will now have an action plan in a couple of weeks' time, but that's still a plan.
01:47But we need really action, and that we expect now from this action plan to unleash the actual
01:55action and something to be done in Europe to solve the problems that we have.
01:59The question of whether the EU can stick to its commitments to stop producing new cars
02:03and vans with internal combustion engines after 2035 is also unavoidable.
02:09And the tariff on electric cars made in China remains very divisive, as it also affects
02:14European manufacturers.
02:16Moreover, this is not just a technical debate.
02:1827 governments and the European Parliament need to reach a common position.