Automotive review

The Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st Century (CARS21) conference has called for EU regulations to be simplified in order for the automotive industry to survive the economic downturn.

Hosted by EC vice-president, Guenter Verheugen, the meeting reviewed the progress of CARS21 over the past three years and set out forward-looking initiatives for the EU to provide better regulation, reciprocal trade relations and market incentives.

The automotive industry is one of the most regulated sectors in Europe and will face further restrictions in the near future. CARS21 has called for better regulation by simplifying procedures, improving transparency of impact assessments and putting in place realistic long-term targets.

The EC is currently reviewing a €40bn (£31.6bn) low-interest loans package to help secure a sustainable market for current and newly developed fuel-efficient vehicles. The conference also discussed market incentives, such as a scrapping scheme for older vehicles, as another way of accelerating the take-up of fuel-efficient technologies.

Christian Streiff, president of the vehicle manufacturers’ trade association ACEA and chief executive officer of PSA Peugeot Citroën, said: ‘The fallout of the financial crisis has only increased the urgency to further improve the automotive policy framework.

‘Over the past weeks, various manufacturers have announced they would scale back their production as a consequence of the current trend. We welcome the fact that the Commission has confirmed the strength and competitiveness of the automobile industry to be a top priority’.