Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-14-Speech-2-256"
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"en.19991214.12.2-256"2
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"I would like to warmly welcome Mr Bodrato's report and the very clear presentation he gave. This is an important step that matches the regulatory regime with the realities of a global car industry.
I just want to insert a word of caution. Europe has to negotiate from a position of strength in this global regime. In the United States the market is moving in the opposite direction from the rest of the world. American consumers are in love with larger, heavier and more thirsty vehicles. The European model of lighter, economical cars is becoming more and more significant in the rest of the world apart from the United States. We have to make sure that global regulation does not compromise Europe's market strength in the type of vehicles that most world consumers want to buy.
I would like to take the opportunity to raise another issue about the global competitive environment in the car industry apart from regulation. The reality of today's industry is that every operation – every factory – has to compete for long-term investment globally. In Eastern Europe, in South America, in the United States, aids are being given to encourage local investment. In that context, I particularly want to ask Mr Liikanen tonight to take up the question of the uncertainty facing thousands of my constituents who work at the BMW-Rover factory at Longbridge in Birmingham, where major investment is planned to produce new small cars for the global market.
I declare with pride a personal interest in this, because I began my career in the car industry 32 years ago working at that factory. We heard last week that a decision from the Commission on an aid package from the British Government which responds to that need for the plant to be global has been delayed yet again, and that this delay is affecting consumer confidence and the future of the plant. So in asking you, Mr Liikanen, if you can get that quickly resolved with your colleague Mr Monti, can I also ask the Commission to set up a fast and fair mechanism to deal with these future issues; because until we have that, Europe's global car industry's competitiveness will be affected and we will not be able to take full advantage of the regime that Mr Bodrato proposed."@en1
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