"The car is a key example of the Commission's lack of planning," says the economic report on the European Union, former Italian Prime Minister and ECB President Mario Draghi, with recommendations to the community, supported by ACEA President and Rernault CEO Luca de Meo.
Ειδικότερα, o Μάριο Ντράγκι παρουσίασε την πολυαναμενόμενη έκθεση για την ανταγωνιστικότητα της Ευρώπης και το πολύ μακροσκελές έγγραφο (σχεδόν 400 σελίδες) δεν παραλείπει να αναφερθεί στις προκλήσεις της αυτοκινητοβιομηχανίας, συνοδευόμενο από μια προειδοποίηση για την απουσία βιομηχανικής πολιτικής εκ μέρους των θεσμικών οργάνων της ΕΕ. «Ο τομέας της αυτοκινητοβιομηχανίας», γράφει ο πρώην πρωθυπουργός της Ιταλίας και πρόεδρος της ΕΚΤ, »αποτελεί βασικό παράδειγμα της έλλειψης σχεδιασμού της Ένωσης και της εφαρμογής μιας πολιτικής για το κλίμα χωρίς βιομηχανική πολιτική.
Underlining the economic importance of the European four-wheel industry and the gradual loss of global leadership, Draghi echoes the numerous concerns expressed by the industry, in particular regarding the approach to decarbonisation and the inconsistency between legislative initiatives and the targets imposed on the industry. "The principle of technological neutrality has not always been applied in the automotive sector," warns Draghi. "The ambitious target of zero exhaust emissions by 2035 will effectively lead to the phasing out of internal combustion engine vehicles and the rapid market penetration of electric vehicles. However, Europe has not followed these ambitions with a synchronised push for supply chain transformation." Yes, the Commission launched the European Battery Alliance "to build a battery value chain", but little has been done on charging infrastructure.
The Chinese threat
"China, on the contrary, has focused on the entire electric vehicle supply chain since 2012 and, as a result, has moved faster and on a larger scale and is now a generation ahead in electric vehicle technology in almost all sectors, even producing at lower cost," Draghi continues, according to whom Chinese competition, which is becoming increasingly fierce thanks to a "powerful combination of massive industrial policies and facilities, rapid innovation, control of raw materials" and economic incentives, is becoming increasingly competitive.
You need an industrial design
As part of a broader decarbonisation strategy, Draghi believes that the EU should develop an industry-wide sectoral action plan. In the short term, it is necessary to "avoid the radical relocation of production" and "the rapid takeover of factories and companies by foreign producers subsidised by their own countries": in this sense, tariff policy could also "help to level the playing field". However, in the longer term, it is necessary to define an 'industrial roadmap that takes into account horizontal convergence (e.g. electrification, digitalisation and circularity) and vertical convergence (e.g. critical raw materials, batteries, transport and charging infrastructure) in the value chains of the automotive ecosystem'. There is no shortage of recommendations on the need to ensure "competitive production costs, starting with the energy factor, to ensure regulatory consistency, to support infrastructure development, to support European projects in the most innovative sectors and to focus on training and retraining of the workforce".
Replying to de Meo
In fact, Draghi agrees with most of the proposals made by Acea president Luca de Meo: "Scale, standardisation and cooperation will be key to make European manufacturers competitive on the front of small and affordable electric vehicles, software-driven vehicles, autonomous driving solutions and the circular value chain", Draghi stresses, calling on Brussels to "take a technology-neutral approach in defining the path towards CO2 and emissions reductions" (one point is precisely dedicated to the "potential of alternative fuels" such as e-fuel and biofuels) and to take into account market and technological developments.
Luca de Meo: Draghi's wake-up call for the European automotive industry
Luca de Meo takes a positive view of Mario Draghi's report on Europe's competitiveness, expressing his support for the former ECB President's recommendations, especially in the part dedicated to the automotive world. Moreover, there are many points in the report that echo many of de Meo's concerns and, in particular, the letter he sent last March to the European institutions in support of a series of proposals to restart the sector. The report "could be the wake-up call that Europe needed", writes the Renault CEO and president of the Acea European Manufacturers Association on LinkedIn, highlighting its "first asset", namely that it "brings to the fore our most vital challenges: promoting innovation, strengthening industrial policy and ensuring that decarbonisation is aligned with competitiveness".
"I would like to personally thank Mario Draghi for this colossal project", adds the head of the Lausanne-based company, who says it is a "good sign" that the report recognises "the strategic importance of the automotive industry". Moreover, for de Meo, Draghi's work will help Europe "regain" its leading position in the automotive sector. "Full support for Draghi's insightful recommendations," de Meo continued, bearing in mind his proposals made in the spring: among them, "the need for European actors to adopt an open and collaborative approach; the need for a holistic industrial policy, technological neutrality, Green Deal zones, support for manufacturing and a clear regulatory agenda to promote innovation; and the importance of affordable European small electric vehicles. In conclusion, the Lausanne CEO pledged his team's full cooperation to "contribute and bring ideas, honestly and transparently" to the wider debate on decarbonisation policies.
