The EU must defend its car industry against Chinese competition. The 2035 combustion engine ban also needs to be re-evaluated.
That’s what he says Stéphane Séjourné vice-president of the commission, whose area of responsibility is economic well-being and industrial strategy.
Séjourné warns that the number of cars produced and sold in Europe will drop from 13 million to nine million in ten years if nothing is done.
“According to estimates, in 2035 the market share of Europeans (cars) would decrease from the current 70 percent to 55 percent. For components, the figures are even worse: their share would decrease from 85 percent to less than 50 percent.”
Séjourné claims that there are manufacturers in Spain and Hungary, for example, that assemble cars from Chinese components with Chinese labor.
“It is not acceptable,” says the commissioner.
However, he did not Italian newspaper La Stampan in the interview, name the car factories located in Europe whose workforce would come from China.
Europe should also consider whether rare earth metals could be obtained from, for example, Brazil, Canada or African countries, in order to reduce dependence on China.
Less naive
In Séjourné’s opinion, the EU should also make its exports more diverse than at present.
“We need to be less naive. We are the only continent without strategic thinking in industrial policy,” says Séjourné.
He hoped for flexibility in the 2035 combustion engine ban. According to car manufacturers, switching to electric cars alone is not possible. The EU is expected to reconsider the ban by the end of this year.
European car manufacturers should also look for new markets in the world, and the bureaucracy affecting companies should be reduced.
According to Séjourné, the Commission plans to announce a new and affordable category of small electric cars on December 10. They are intended to meet the competition of Chinese car manufacturers and bring electric cars to the market that consumers can afford.
Séjourné, 39, has previously served, among other things, as the French foreign minister.