A body representing pan-European metalworking unions has called on the European Council and European Parliament to introduce job creation as a condition for obtaining EV and green financial support.
The European Metalworkers’ Federation was responding to the EU’s recent communication – ‘European strategy on clean and energy efficient vehicles,’ with the umbrella union stressing the importance of job creation in any EV funding.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“The communication announces the creation of a European Sectoral Skills Council – this is actually one of our principal demands,” said EMF general secretary Peter Scherrer.
“We are able to predict that the switch to electric vehicles will have a considerable impact on the whole structure of the sector, and particularly on employment. The communication reference to employment is somewhat brief but it does open up the possibility for anticipation, jointly organised by the social partners.”
Scherrer also called for employment and social issues to be tackled with the same priority as the EV infrastructure and regulatory issues.
He added structural changes in the automotive sector were “unavoidable” in terms of the division of labour between OEMs and suppliers, but also in terms of employment structure.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataAnd given research and development is likely to receive public funding for the coming years. taxpayers’ support has to be closely linked to conditions in terms of social, economic and technological efficiency, noted the EMF general secretary.
Calling for a “a change from past policy” the EMF said in 2009, the European Investment Bank gave almost EUR10bn (US$13.1bn) to the sector, “without any prior conditions.”
Currently no evaluation is under way, according to the union body.
“The EMF calls on the European Council and European Parliament to introduce job-creation effects as a condition for obtaining financial support,” it added.
