Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-04-Speech-3-258"
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"en.20090204.16.3-258"2
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".
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Vondra has just informed you all of the outcome of the discussions that I held with the Ministers responsible for the motor industry on 16 January. I can but confirm everything that was said, although I would also counsel caution at the same time. We must be careful, now, not to raise hopes or expectations that we just cannot live up to. Allow me to go into some further detail about the position of the European motor industry at this time.
We all know what greater productivity means in the motor industry. In any event, it does not have a positive impact on the job figures. That is the reality of the current situation.
Our policy now is pursuing two goals at the same time. Firstly, it seeks to get the European industry through this crisis – and I will stress each individual word here – with the aim of losing not a single European manufacturer where possible. Not one. The second goal is to increase the competitiveness of the European motor industry in the long term and to durably establish Europe as the world’s leading car-producing region.
As far as the measures relating to the first of these goals are concerned, we have done everything that could be done. We have provided the European motor industry, especially badly hit by the credit crunch as it was, with access to financing. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is making EUR 9 billion available for this industry alone this year, and I have to tell you that there is no point in asking for more in this House today. Given the EIB’s capital base, no more money can be forthcoming. Nine billion euro is already on the table.
Thanks to the hard work of my fellow Commissioner Mrs Kroes, State aid control now takes such a flexible form, and we have changed the rules to such an extent, that the Member States have considerably greater abilities to react quickly and in a targeted manner where assistance is needed in individual cases. The Commission is thereby taking on the role that it has acquired through legislation, which is to say that of ensuring that these measures do not give rise to any distortions of competition and that they do not jeopardise our policy goals. I would like to mention just one example in this regard. It is patently obvious that aid to the European subsidiaries of US companies can only be authorised where it is clear that the aid in question serves exclusively to retain European jobs.
We have implemented a range of measures to push forward the modernisation of the stock of cars on Europe’s roads, by means of which we were, at the same time, pursuing the objective of having a positive impact on the environment. Not all the Member States are going to use the system of paying scrapping premiums, but those that do will be following the agreed principles, which is to say that these measures must not discriminate against other manufacturers. To mention one more example, Member States cannot say, ‘I will give you a premium if you scrap your old car, but only if your new car is a German one’, if you live in Germany, or a French one or a Czech one. It is just not possible to do this.
One thing that is possible, however – and I would welcome this warmly – is for such scrapping premiums to be linked to environmental targets. In other words, for instance, they would only be paid if the new car bought met certain emissions standards. As far as we can see, this system of premiums is working well and is having the positive effect desired.
There is only one way to get the commercial vehicles market going again. Scrapping premiums, as you can imagine, are not possible in this sector. What is needed most of all here is to give small- and medium-sized enterprises in this sector access to finance. We are doing that. It is also necessary to ensure, where public money is being invested, that preference is given to the procurement of environmentally-friendly commercial vehicles, for example in the case of public transport or other public services for which vehicles are needed. We have already done all of this.
In the long term – something of which we have often spoken in this House – what is needed is to implement the recommendations of the Cars 21 process, namely to ensure the future of the European motor industry through greater efforts in relation to innovation, research and development so that the European car of the future is the world’s leading car not only in terms of the standard of its technology, its finishing and its safety, but also in relation to fuel-efficiency – meaning low consumption – and environmental friendliness – meaning low emissions. The European industry is going with us on this, and we are supporting the associated projects as part of the European economic stimulus package, as you all know.
Allow me, finally, to say that the most important outcome of the discussions with the Member States was that we all pledged to prevent the occurrence of any race to protectionism in Europe. Such a race to protectionism would result in the financially weaker Member States losing out and would very seriously damage the provision of social solidarity in Europe.
Another thing that we can do to stimulate demand and to help and lead the motor industry through this crisis is to ensure that the conditions of international competition, too, are also not violated. That is a question that must be directed at the United States, in particular. We will see what measures President Obama puts in place to counter the crisis in the US motor industry. In this respect, I would like to point out that it is not in Europe’s interest for the American carmakers to go under. The consequences for Europe would be catastrophic if that happened. However, it is likewise not in our interest for the US to institute a policy that would favour its motor industry at the expense of competitors from other parts of the world. I hope that we will get the opportunity to discuss this calmly with our American friends.
Experience shows that cars are an early indicator of economic trends. It was therefore no surprise that the heavy fall in demand in vehicles that we experienced last summer was then followed by an economic downturn in all the other sectors of the economy. Why is this the case?
The European motor industry is not staring into an abyss. It is in a difficult situation, but it is our firm belief that the industry is capable and strong enough to get through this difficult situation and continue, in future, to play an important role in creating and securing jobs and prosperity in Europe.
Thedrop in demand is a symptom of a lack of confidence in the way the economy is heading. Consumers behave no differently to enterprises in this respect. In uncertain economic times, when people do not know what is going to happen to them, they cling on to their money. In a private household, the purchase of a new car is the largest investment, over a number of years. It is something that can be put off, however, as, of course, a European car can always last another year.
Everybody knows that the situation will only fundamentally improve when the general confidence and belief in the overall trends in the economy have returned. This means that the measures that we put in place together in Europe in order to combat this crisis overall are absolutely the most important thing.
I would like to give a few more figures in order to demonstrate how important this is. The European motor industry employs 12 million people directly and indirectly. That represents 6% of all the jobs in the European Union. It is the most important sector of the economy as far as European exports are concerned. Our biggest export surplus is in motor vehicles.
In 2007, we produced 19.6 million motor vehicles in Europe. Last year, this figure was nearly one million lower and it will fall again significantly in 2009. There are currently stockpiles of 2 million unsold vehicles. The motor industry is the industry in Europe that invests the highest proportion of its turnover in research and development. On average, carmakers invest 4% in research and development. This compares with an average of just 2% for European companies as a whole. In simple terms, then, it is a key industry for Europe.
The economic crisis has hit this industry in every sector at the same time. This has never happened before – it is a first – and I have to tell you that the public only think of the situation as regards passenger cars. The plight of commercial vehicles is much more dramatic. Here, new orders in the whole of the European Union have fallen to practically zero, and that when there is a production capacity of almost 40 000 commercial vehicles a month.
The negative impact on the employment situation is unavoidable, and for two main reasons. We have a decided overcapacity in motor vehicles in the European Union. The industry itself concedes an overcapacity of 20%. There are people who say it is much higher still. Twenty per cent, however, is still a very high figure, and when you compare this with the numbers of people employed by this industry, we are talking about more than 400 000 jobs. There is absolutely no doubt that European carmakers will be engaging in an accelerated implementation, during this year of economic crisis, of the re-structuring measures that have been planned for some time. This point I will make quite clearly: there is no guarantee that, at the end of this year, we will still have all the production sites in Europe that we have at the moment. There is a high probability that, by the end of the year, a whole series of those production sites will no longer be in operation. There is not even a guarantee that, by the end of the year, all the European manufacturers will still be in the market.
The pressure of international competition in the motor industry is very strong. As European legislators, we have heightened this competition still further by making considerable demands of the European motor industry over the coming years. The industry is required to make considerable strides in terms of innovation. So that Mrs Harms does not criticise me again straight away, I would like to make clear to her that I am not criticising this fact – I believe it is right and proper. Do not reproach me for describing the facts as they are. This is not criticism on my part; it is merely an observation. Our legislation has made European cars considerably more expensive and, in the coming years, they are to get much more expensive still. The primary effects of this are to increase the pressure of competition, to increase cost pressure and to increase the necessity for the companies in question to achieve higher productivity. That is the only way to survive this competitive situation."@en1
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