European automotive supplier body, CLEPA, is calling for a total removal of non-tarrif barriers as the debate surrounding free trade agreements (FTA) continues to rage.
The issue has come to the fore once again following this week’s high-level CARS 21 meeting in Brussels, grouping suppliers, automakers and senior European politicians such as commission vice president, Antonio Tajani.
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What has really irked CLEPA however, is its perception of the unfair imbalance now prevalent following the recent FTA with South Korea.
“In terms of competitiveness on the global market, there was a clear [CARS 21] message on FTAs that the experience with South Korea was not a positive one, because the trade deficit has increased,” CLEPA CEO Jean-Marc Gales told just-auto following the Brussels meeting.
“We should aim for a full removal of non-tarrif barriers – we need that. The point was clearly made that [in] our opinion, FTAs were good but we need them at zero for zero. We need to learn from past experiences.”
Gales added the FTA with South Korea had been “rushed into” but acknowledged the CARS 21 discussion had taken account CLEPA’s view and that the DG Trade directorate of the European Commission had equally noted his concerns.
“We rushed into South Korea without doing a really good impact [study] and will lose about 200,000 to 300,000 cars,” he said. “Korean manufacturers gained 1.5% of market share.
“We want to export cars so we need FTAs, but please, please, push the EC to remove tariff barriers.”
CLEPA has considerable clout when it comes to CARS 21, representing 5m supplier workers, and also operates at European Commission level where it is highly regarded among the top political echelons.
To that end, Gales is also calling for the European Commission to consider funding of around EUR5.5bn (US$6.9bn) to improve competitiveness and has denounced as “absolutely inadequate” suggestions from some quarters this figure might actually be closer to EUR2bn.
Any future funding would form part of the Horizon 2020 programme with Gales highlighting five major areas of future development of which his members were at the forefront including decarbonisation, advanced internal combustion engines, powertrain systems, advanced light-weight materials, intelligent transport systems, manufacturing and engineering.
