Tiltak for bilindustrien

Tiltak for bilindustrien

Meddelelse fra Kommisjonen: Tiltak i forbindelse med krisen i bilindustrien

Meddelelse lagt fram av Kommisjonen 25.2.2009

Nærmere omtale

BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsmeddelelsen, engelsk utgave)

The European automotive industry is one of Europe's flagship industries. It is a key driver of growth, exports, innovation and jobs. Its impact filters down across a wide variety of other sectors. And it has a particularly important cross border reach, with suppliers, manufacturers and sales and servicing downstream creating a web of mutual interest that touches every one of the EU's Member States.

The Commission believes that the EU needs a dynamic and competitive automotive sector. The economic crisis has put the automotive sector under particular pressure. Properly targeted support is needed to help the industry and its workforce through the downturn and to address structural problems by making the sector more competitive and more in tune with the needs of the future.

The European automotive industry has a strong future. Its export performance shows it can make the right products for a global market that will continue to grow. Its workforce has the skills to maintain its technological edge. And it is already working to produce the new generation of motor vehicles needed for the low carbon age.

This communication sets out how the EU can bring policy levers into play to support the automotive industry. It represents a European framework for action: a framework which sets out how both the EU level and Member States can take the decisive measures needed. Different Member States will use different mixes of action to address the needs of manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and their workers. All can be most effective working with the confidence provided by a common EU framework.

The internal market has been a major cause of the vitality of the European automotive industry, the competitiveness of its manufacturing and the scale of its sales. It will be critical to the recovery phase. It is therefore essential that state aids and other measures are well directed, working to build the future strength of the industry rather than introducing shortterm distortions that will damage long-term competitiveness. That means cooperation and working upstream of national decisions to ensure they fit in well with the EU's overall ambitions.

At the same time, the EU can offer a variety of other steps to build a platform to stabilise the industry and help it to recover. This includes measures to invest in strategic technologies. It includes steps to help workers whose jobs are at risk to retrain and find new work, as well as safeguarding and developing the key skills of some of the most valued technicians in Europe. It includes a determined and concerted effort to combat any move towards protectionism in global markets. And of course, the industry will benefit directly from the core measures of the European Economic Recovery Plan to get credit moving again, as well as from specific measures like the European green cars initiative.

This European framework for the automotive sector shows how the intelligent application of EU and national policies can not only offer a cushion for the automotive industry in a time of intense pressure, but a springboard for the future. The common goal is a dynamic, competitive and sustainable automotive sector in the EU for the coming decades.