Tag: car industry

Germany's Baden-Württemberg state has taken over the presidency of the ‘four motors’ of Europe, a network of advanced regions in France, Germany, Italy and Spain demanding a bigger slice of EU regional funding to support excellence. EurActiv France reports.

To tackle climate change the United States and Europe should set higher fuel efficiency standards for cars and work with regulatory agencies from other countries to create harmonised global standards, argues Eberhard Rhein.

The imminent entry into force of an EU free trade agreement with South Korea might be delayed, as some countries are demanding the inclusion of new safeguards for European industry, particularly for car manufacturers. The European Parliament yesterday (7 September) postponed a decision over the deal, while Italy is threatening a veto.

For various reasons, from rising oil prices to changing consumer preferences, the number of electric cars will rise steadily in the coming years. Yet there are a variety of factors which mean that the technology is still far from suitable for mass production, including technical issues as well as political ones, writes Eric Heymann of Deutsche Bank (DB) Research in an April paper.

Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg expressed confidence on Saturday (17 October) that Germany could address EU concerns about a sale of carmaker Opel to Canada's Magna, saying they did not put the deal at risk.

A Canadian-Russian consortium's plan to buy automaker Opel from General Motors faced more hurdles as scrutiny of German state aid intensified and labour leaders demanded a veto over job cuts. Meanwhile, Belgium called for a probe into the sale.

Significant progress has been made in developing electric cars, but critics complain that the distance these vehicles can cover is still too short and much work is needed to prepare electricity infrastructure for radical change.

Investment by EU member states in major national industries will trickle down to smaller companies as well benefiting large firms, the European Commission's SME envoy told EurActiv in an interview.

Amid public incomprehension over billions of euro being poured into saving the banking sector instead of EU industry, ministers underlined yesterday (5 March) that better communication of basic economics is needed to prevent social and political unrest.

Prime Minister François Fillon rejected accusations of protectionism regarding a 6bn euro loan for French carmakers, telling the European Commission that a clause requiring manufacturers to maintain production sites in France did not constitute unfair discrimination against other EU member states.

As MEPs, the Council and the European Commission gear up for a debate in Strasbourg this afternoon (4 February) on the impact of the economic crisis on the car industry, accusations of state aid look set to fly. EurActiv's media network in Western and Central Europe takes a look at the situation in some key countries.

Industry ministers from the 27 member states agreed on Friday (16 January) to coordinate national measures in support of their ailing car industries, amid warnings from the European Commission of "a race for subsidies" and confirmation that no specific EU support plan for the industry is foreseen.

Meeting in Brussels on 15-16 October, the 27 European leaders gave their support to a France-inspired plan to support Europe's ailing automobile industry and instructed the Commission to come up with proposals to support all European industries before the year's end.

Against expectations and despite strong pressure from industry, the Parliament’s Environment Committee yesterday (25 September) voted down a compromise proposal that would have diluted EU ambitions to cut cars’ average CO2 emissions.

Car manufacturers only reduced their CO2 emissions by 1.7% over the past year – a far cry from the average 17% cut they will have to achieve within the next four years to comply with planned European legislation, according to data published today by Transport & Environment, a green NGO.

European environment ministers could today (5 June) agree to set deeper and longer-term CO2 targets for new cars. But green groups fear the move could be used as an excuse to put off stronger short-term action.

Carmakers should have an extra three years' breathing space to implement reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, according to a report adopted by MEPs.

The Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee has backed a proposal that seeks to end carmakers' exclusive right to sell visible spare parts such as bumpers, bonnets and headlights in a move aimed at bringing down prices in the repair market.

The European Parliament looks set to award carmakers an extra three years breathing space to implement heavy cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, to the outrage of Green MEPs, who insist that the whole EU climate strategy will be jeopardised if the automobile industry is let off the hook.

Green NGO T&E has urged MEPs to rule out a system, backed by carmakers, where carbon-dioxide emission standards for cars would be based on weight, saying that this would lead to more road deaths and higher emissions overall.

While the EU's 27 environment ministers agree on the need to reduce car emissions in order to tackle climate change, they remain divided on how the burden of these reductions should be spread out among the industry.

Carmakers should face fines for vehicles that fail to meet future EU CO2 emission limits, with manufacturers of even cleaner cars receiving financial rewards, according to a draft report by UK Liberal MEP Chris Davies, to be voted on later this year in Parliament. 

Rules forcing carmakers to build greener vehicles will be of no use unless measures are taken to convince consumers to buy them, experts have agreed in a debate on the Commission's vehicle-emissions strategy.

On 29 January 2007, the Commission shrugged off claims from Germany's powerful automobile industry that planned legislation to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide from cars would lead to huge job losses.