The European automotive industry is facing an existential crisis, with millions of jobs at risk as manufacturers, suppliers and the wider supply chain come under growing pressure, European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné warned during a debate in the European Parliament on Tuesday.
Speaking during a plenary session in Strasbourg on urgent measures to strengthen the competitiveness of the EU automotive sector and safeguard high-quality jobs, Séjourné said the industry is confronting multiple challenges simultaneously.
According to the commissioner, Europe is struggling with technological disadvantages, weakened supply chains caused by geopolitical instability, the financial burden of tariffs, barriers limiting access to foreign markets and what he described as China’s ‘predatory strategy’ of exporting excess production capacity to Europe.
As a result, European carmakers are losing market share while imports of Chinese vehicles continue to grow. Chinese brands now account for more than 15 per cent of Europe’s market for electric and other electrified vehicles, he said.
‘The European automotive industry is operating below capacity, and the risk of mass layoffs is increasing,’ Séjourné told lawmakers.
He stressed that the European Commission fully recognizes the urgency of the situation and is developing a comprehensive automotive strategy based on strategic dialogue with industry stakeholders since the start of the current Commission’s mandate.
Séjourné recalled that the automotive package presented last December was followed in March by proposals for an industrial accelerator, creating what he described as the first strategy to cover the entire automotive value chain.
The commissioner said the Commission plans to introduce greater flexibility in carbon dioxide emissions rules while maintaining the European Union’s climate objectives. He argued that the regulation on decarbonizing vehicle fleets would preserve an important market segment for European manufacturers while also making used electric vehicles more affordable for households.
He added that planned simplification measures would accelerate the adoption of affordable small electric vehicles, while dedicated EU programmes would support the expansion of Europe’s battery manufacturing capacity.
At the same time, industrial acceleration measures are intended to protect European jobs, prevent further downsizing among suppliers and strengthen their role within the electric mobility value chain.
Séjourné urged the European Parliament and member states to adopt the Commission’s proposed legislation as quickly as possible.
‘Our objective is clear: to stop the vicious cycle affecting Europe’s automotive industry, where production, market share and value added generated in Europe continue to decline,’ he said.
‘We owe this to our industry, to its workers and to the regions whose economies depend heavily on the automotive sector.’
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