European Commission (EC) officials with responsibility for the automotive industry say they are actively targeting the sector to drive jobs growth, with Brussels predicting a tiny economic improvement of 0.1% this year and even a Eurozone contraction.
Unemployment across the European Union (EU) soared to 26m in May this year representing 12.1% of the 27 Member States countries and is a figure that is rising, but the EC maintains it has a policy to tackle jobless numbers in the auto industry.
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“Why a specific action plan for the automotive industry?” EC deputy head of unit DG enterprise, industry mobility and automotive industry, Barbara Bonvissuto, said at the recent European Automotive Congress in Bilbao in northern Spain organised by European Conference Management.
“Because the industry is a key sector for employment – 12m jobs direct and indirect – the sector has contributed to the positive trade balance and the industry is linked to other sectors – upstream and downstream.”
The EC is currently evaluating what it terms a “new industrial policy” for Europe and adds manufacturing is “finally at the heart of the debate” as the organisation looks to stem chronic job losses, not least in the car sector which has seen considerable plant rationalisation with more to follow.
“The automotive sector of course does not [only] mean the vehicle manufacturers – it means the whole supply chain – a lot of small and medium enterprises,” said Bonvissuto. “It is the biggest private investor in R&D in the EU and a technological leader.
“[However], the current micro-economic situation is rather negative. We are in a period of recession – there may be a gradual return to growth this year but only very minimum – 0.1% in the EU and in the Eurozone there may even be a contraction.”
