Automotive industry action plan

Key Points

The EU Youth Test at the EESC was applied to this opinion. ESDN Youth was chosen by a group of interested youth organisations to represent all of them during the opinion-making process.

The EESC:

• acknowledges the vital importance of the automotive industry as a strategic pillar of the European economy, in terms of both employment and industrial added value, and underlines the need to ensure a competitive and sustainable future for the sector;
• calls for a comprehensive European strategy for a fair and competitive transition in the automotive sector, based on investment in skills, innovation, infrastructure and the circular economy and a special focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
• stresses the need to support the most affected regions and the most vulnerable workers, particularly those in SMEs and subcontracting networks in many Member States, through targeted reskilling programmes, public and private investment, and the mobilisation of EU funds;
• urges the European Commission to ensure the right balance between regulatory stability/consistency and targeted flexibility, particularly in areas such as CO₂ targets and sustainable fuels;
• emphasises the need for a coordinated European industrial strategy to address the structural challenges facing the entire automotive supply chain, including dependence on critical raw materials, unfair competition from China – related not only to direct imported vehicle schemes but also to production systems – and geopolitical tensions affecting supply chains;
• recommends speeding up the deployment of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, ensuring even coverage across all EU regions to prevent disparities in access to sustainable mobility,
• stresses the importance of investment in education, and in research and development (R&D), particularly in battery technologies and automotive software, in order to restore European leadership in these key areas;
• calls for the harmonisation of standards and regulations related to autonomous and connected vehicles, to support the testing and deployment of these vehicles on public roads and ensure consumer safety and trust;
• recommends the establishment of targeted support programmes for SMEs in the automotive sector, to improve their access to finance, innovation, and international markets and, as mentioned, to facilitate skilling and reskilling programmes.