Toespraak Eurocommissaris Spidla over de Europese autoindustrie (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC) i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 15 september 2009.

Vladimír ŠPIDLA i

Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities

Restructuring in the automotive sector

Figures and graphics available in PDF and WORD PROCESSED

Commission statement on the state of the automotive market

Strasbourg, 15 September 2009

Mr President, Honourable Members,

I am very grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to talk today about the situation of the European automotive industry and inform you about certain a spects of our European response to the crisis and developments concerning General Motors Europe. I will talk about the industrial policy and social aspects, while my colleague Neelie Kroes i will discuss the state aid rules.

Twelve million jobs depend directly or indirectly on European vehicle manufacturing. The Commission therefore met back in October 2008 with all the stakeholders (including the Member States and the social partners) as part of the Cars 21 process, in order to thrash out a common approach to tackling the crisis. Topics discussed at this meeting included the car scrappage scheme and additional financial assistance from the EIB, so as to stop this sector, which is so important for employment, from going under. We also had to act to protect our legal commitments to reduce CO 2 emissions from cars by 2012 – I will come back to that point later on.

Concerned about developments around General Motors, the Commission invited all the Member States to a political meeting back in January of this year to create transparency and ensure compliance with European rules in this area. Three such meetings have now taken place. At these meetings, common political agreements were made by the 27 Member States and published.

It was agreed, first of all, that the Treuhand (trusteeship) solution, coordinated by Germany, was the right way to protect General Motors Europe against the insolvency of the American parent group, and we can say today that this solution stopped the European arm of General Motors being dragged into bankruptcy as well. To this end, Germany made 1.5 billion euros in credits available – a clear sign of European solidarity that deserves to be acknowledged.

It was agreed secondly that the Treuhand solution did not represent a preliminary decision in favour of any particular bidder. The Commission stated right at the outset that it would be neutral as far as the choice of bidder was concerned, otherwise it could not fulfil its role as the Guardian of the Treaties.

It was also agreed that all national support measures had to comply fully with the provisions of the EC Treaty on state aid and the internal market. As a result, state aid could NOT be made conditional on political considerations such as the location of investment. There is no place for economic nationalism in the EC Treaty! Public money may be invested only in exceptional circumstances and only to create economic structures fit for the future and to secure jobs for the future. All decisions must be made on economically rational criteria alone. As I mentioned, Neelie Kroes will be speaking later on in detail about the state aid issues.

The fact that GM will keep 35% of the shares shows clearly that it is betting on the economic renewal of its former European subsidiary. I also welcome the fact that 10% of the shares will remain in the hands of the workers.

The Commission has been in discussions with all the stakeholders at both employment and political level since January 2009. All the Member States, and today also the Flemish Minister-President, welcome and support the Commission's position on the future of General Motors Europe. The Commission also has all the means available to ensure compliance with all the agreements made.

I will emphasise once again – we will not allow taxpayers' money to be spent on short-term political considerations rather than long-term interests that safeguard industrial locations and jobs. It goes without saying that, in times of crisis, it is tempting to look after one's own interests first. However, as Commissioner for Social Affairs, I hope that Magna, in conjunction with GM and New Opel, will find a Europe-wide solution that benefits Opel workers in Rüsselsheim as much as it does those in Luton, Zaragoza, Gliwice and elsewhere.

The debate about the future of General Motors Europe must not distract us from the fact that the situation on the European automotive market as a whole is dramatic. Even before the crisis there was over-capacity, and the situation has worsened since then. In the last quarter of 2008, the number of new registrations fell by almost 20% - and we expect a further fall of 11% in 2009. The scrappage scheme adopted by 12 Member States has halted this freefall situation, but only for the car market. In January 2009 we pointed out the extremely difficult situation of the entire van and heavy goods vehicle market: sales figures there are disastrous, and no light is yet visible at the end of the tunnel, with serious consequences for the entire supply industry.

Ultimate responsible for tackling the crisis lies, of course, with the automotive industry itself. To protect affected workers, the EIB, the Member States and the Commission have provided funding where they could to mitigate the social impact. The European Globalisation Fund adopted by the Commission two years before the downturn has received seven applications over the past two years from the automotive sector in six countries. We are helping more than 7 000 people back to work, at a cost of 40 million euros. We have also offered a forum to discuss the next round of restructuring, which must take place in a socially responsible way. And we are pleased that many vehicle manufacturers have resorted to short-time working and other forms of flexible working time – usually negotiated with the social partners – to avoid the need for drastic job cuts.

There is unanimity among all the stakeholders about the long-term prospects for the European car industry. Europe must be where the most advanced cars in the world are built – in other words, the cleanest, most energy-efficient and safest. This is why the industry needs to achieve a leap forward. We are helping by way of the EIB and the seventh research framework programme. The Commission will continue to do everything to provide reliable framework conditions for this key industry for Europe and the people who work in it.

Thank you for your attention .