The European Commission presented an action plan on Wednesday, making 1.8 billion euro available to create a secure and competitive supply chain for battery raw materials, which will help support the growth of the European automotive industry, the EU Executive said in a statement.
The European automotive sector is at a critical turning point, driven by rapid technological change and increasing competition. To face the changes ahead, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched in January a strategic dialogue on the future of the European automotive industry, a collaborative and inclusive process designed to address the sector’s most pressing challenges. In this context, the Commission presented an action plan on Wednesday, which builds on the strategic dialogue.
“There is so much untapped potential in the global market for innovation and clean solutions. I want our European automotive industry to take the lead. We will promote domestic production to avoid strategic dependencies, in particular for battery production. We will respect our agreed emissions targets, but with a pragmatic and flexible approach. Our shared goal is a sustainable, competitive and innovative automotive industry in Europe, which benefits our citizens, our economy and our environment,” said Ursula von der Leyen, according to Agerpres.
EU automotive companies are lagging behind in key technologies. To help the industry lead the transition to AI-powered, connected and automated vehicles, the action plan presents a change of gears. A European Alliance for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles will bring together stakeholders from the automotive sector in Europe to shape the development of next-generation vehicles and contribute to the development of the common software and digital hardware needed to bring this technology to life. Large-scale testbeds and regulatory ‘testing grounds’ will give innovators the freedom to test and refine their autonomous vehicle technologies. The Commission will further develop the regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles. These actions will be supported by around €1 billion of joint public-private investments supported by Horizon Europe over the period 2025-2027.
The Action Plan is accompanied by the Communication on decarbonising corporate fleets, which highlights examples of good practice and encourages Member States to take further action for green corporate fleets, which account for around 60% of new car registrations.