Frankfurt am Main – The EU Commission has responded to the difficult situation in the automotive industry with a comprehensive package. The proposal contains many elements that IG Metall has called for and suggested in recent months. The revision of the CO2 regulation combines flexibility in the forms of propulsion with maintaining the climate targets. From IG Metall’s point of view, this is fundamentally the right path.
At the same time, it means that companies in the automotive industry also have new opportunities. The German manufacturers and German suppliers must now first and foremost use the new flexibility, the time savings and the new scope to secure employment and locations.
Christiane Benner, First Chairwoman of IG Metall, makes it clear: “There is a clear idea on the table as to how things should continue from 2035. Everything that follows now must secure jobs and strengthen industrial structures, especially among suppliers. The automotive industry has long complained that the 2035 target is a brake. Now that this brake has been released, we must move forward at full speed on the main road of electromobility, while at the same time making the drives more flexible – with a goal Job security! There are no more excuses!”
The Commission’s proposal gives manufacturers and suppliers more flexibility for sensible drive variants on the way to climate-neutral automobility. It is good that drives with combustion engine components will remain permitted for longer. In this way, the change in employment at many locations can be better shaped together with unions and works councils.
The IG Metall boss emphasizes the framework conditions, but also the consequences that go along with the plans: “The Commission’s proposal takes up IG Metall’s demands: let hybrids run, promote local content, significant support for European battery production, quotas for green steel, the orientation towards small, affordable vehicles. The climate goals are there, but should be achieved in other ways. Even if the devil lies in the details of the legislative process, German manufacturers must now find clear strategies that meet these requirements and secure jobs.”
The continued running of the internal combustion engine is subject to strict conditions. Additional CO2 emissions must be offset by using green steel, advanced biofuels or e-fuels. This makes sense and combines climate impact with industrial policy.
But it also means: electromobility will remain the central route. The industry must pursue this further and more actively. Sitting back in the face of change is not an option. The German automotive industry must be competitive in order to secure employment at our locations. The many investments made, especially by the German automotive industry, will pay off; perseverance is required.
In the interests of competitiveness and employment, the automotive industry must push ahead with innovations and develop new business models. The transformation of the industry continues. Jobs are secured through future viability, not by waiting. IG Metall will clearly pursue its driving role in accelerating innovation.
Politicians remain obliged to further improve the framework conditions quickly. It is a good signal that the Commission wants to promote the value chains of electromobility more, even if the financial resources in the battery package are too weak. The member states must now follow suit, provide additional support at the national level and take advantage of the new opportunities.
Of particular importance to IG Metall are the local content criteria provided for by the EU Commission in the regulations on company fleets, new small electric cars and battery funding. This is appropriate industrial policy in a new era of global locational competition. They now need to be formulated more specifically.