CARS 21 Conference Stresses Auto Industry Job Security, Green Cars

October 31, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

Participants shared the need to position the European car industry as a global leader in clean, safe and affordable vehicles in order to safeguard jobs and live up to today's climate change challenge.

The conference emphasized that car makers in the European Union (EU) need to be able to compete on fair terms in international markets.

A task force to promote "green" cars will be set up, bringing together relevant stakeholders to explore technical, regulatory and economic hurdles and suggest ways forward for such vehicles.

Conference participants agreed upon the following:

• Fuel efficiency, energy and environment - The future policy to reduce CO2 emissions from road transport should be based on an integrated approach involving motor vehicles, fuels, consumers/drivers and infrastructure. In order to support the development and the broad use of modern, fuel-efficient "green" cars and to accelerate the renewal of the existing fleet, a dedicated task force was set up.
  
  In addition, the conference suggested revising the New European Driving Cycle in time for the next generation of CO2 standards. For the long term, all actors in the integrated approach should take steps to enable road transport in Europe to be largely decarbonized by 2050. Stakeholders agreed that R&D efforts should concentrate on the most promising future technologies: electrical and hybrid vehicles as well as hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles.

• Supportive regulatory framework and better regulation - Specific attention needs to be paid to lead times, legal coherence and cumulative costs, as well as to the effects on affordability, employment and international competitiveness. The European Commission (EC) policy of international harmonization is considered a success (see IP/08/1061) and should be continued in order to create a level playing field globally and to promote the uptake of European standards internationally.

• Trade and overseas markets - There is a strong commitment to increase trade liberalization, provided this is achieved on the basis of mutual benefit for the parties concerned. Therefore, a focus should be kept on achieving a multilateral trade framework as well as pursuing selected bilateral trade agreements, particularly with India, ASEAN and Mercosur. Further efforts with China are also required. The need to continue protecting intellectual property rights was stressed.

• Future development of a coherent automotive regulatory structure - Given that the combination of energy, environmental, industrial and transport policies will play an increasingly important role, it is recommended that, in the future, CARS 21 be converted into a broader forum involving a wider range of stakeholders.

The full conference report lists 16 recommendations, covering such topics as road safety, the internal market (such as new type-approvals for electric vehicles), restructuring of the sector, taxation/incentives and vehicle repair information.

CARS 21 was begun in April 2005 by the EC to chart the way towards sustainable development of a competitive European automotive industry.

The group, chaired by Günter Verheugen, EC vice president responsible for enterprise and industry policy, was mandated to make recommendations for a short-, medium- and long-term public policy and regulatory framework for the European automotive industry.

For more information, see the EC's web site on CARS 21.

Source: European Commission.