Czech Presidency calls for coordinated support for car industry

Publication date: 25 February 2009

Czech Presidency calls for coordinated support for car industry

The Czech Presidency welcomes today’s Commission Communication, intended to help the EU address the impact of the current economic crisis on the European car industry in a coordinated way. The Presidency also appreciates the rapidity of the Commission response to its call for immediate reaction to the crisis. The Presidency sees this response as a contribution to the debate on the upcoming evaluation of the European Economic Recovery Plan. The Czech Presidency has asked the European Commission to identify instruments that will back this key European industry while preventing distortions on the EU internal market and respecting the EU rules for state aid.

“Short-term measures to help car manufacturers must not jeopardise the long-term prospects of the industry as a whole. Even at a time of crisis we can only undertake steps that are coordinated and well thought out and at the same time are not in contradiction with the rules of the game. In this respect, the Czech Presidency appreciates the role of the Commission as a faithful guardian of these principles, further confirmed by today’s Communication responding to the request of the Czech Presidency”, said Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra. Speaking before the European Parliament on 4 February, the Deputy PM had asked the Commission to submit a proposal for coordinated support for the renewal of the vehicle fleet.

The Czech Presidency welcomes the fact that the Commission presented its Communication ahead of the informal meeting of Heads of State and Government to take place on 1 March in Brussels and of the Spring European Council, scheduled for 19 and 20 March. The debate on the impacts of the crisis on the car industry will feature as one of the main topics at the upcoming meeting of the Ministers for Competitiveness, to be held on 5 March in Brussels and presided over by Czech Industry and Trade Minister Martin Říman. Coordinated support for the car industry is one of the Czech Presidency priority topics. According to Commission data, this industry has a yearly turnover of 780 billion euro and creates about 12 million jobs, both directly and indirectly. The current crisis has dealt the car industry a particularly hard blow.

Source: Czech Presidency official website (http://eu2009.cz/en/news-and-documents/news/czech-presidency-calls-for-coordinated-support-for-car-industry-10653/)