Verheugen: EU car industry should be 'best in world'

Europe’s car industry should be the “best in the world” according to enterprise and industry chief Gunter Verheugen.

Speaking to journalists during the first meeting of a new high level group set up to examine the future of Europe’s car manufacturing industry, the German commissioner said that there was full agreement that Europe needs a strong an competitive automotive industry.

“We cannot compete on the basis of lower wages, lower quality and lower working conditions, [but should compete] on technology, safety and the environment.  We must always be the best in the world,” said Verheugen.

The high level group, CARS 21, was set up in January to provide recommendations to improve the competitiveness of the automotive industry, and includes commissioners, MEPs, industry chiefs, government ministers, trades unions and NGOs.

Verheugen said the initial meeting was a great success.

“We fully agreed that the future of the European automotive industry is of critical importance for the success of growth and employment.”

The commissioner said that one of the group’s main tasks would be to scrutinise legislation to ensure that the industry was not tied up in red tape.

“We will screen existing legislation to see whether it can be simplified, whether it must be reviewed, made more efficient by taking into account the competitiveness of the industry.”

Verheugen as commission vice president and competition czar has sweeping powers to ‘unburden’ Brussels legislation from over-bureaucracy, under the auspices of the commission’s renewed Lisbon Strategy on ‘jobs and growth’.

The German who already wants to dilute chemicals legislation and rethink a controversial shake-up of the EU services market, said that he would aim to improve the way, impact assessments of legislation are carried out.

“We will continue to work on better regulation for the future, [and] try to improve the present methodology for impact assessments.”

“There will be no regulation, no legislation in future without a proper impact assessment.  Everything will have to pass a competitiveness and bureaucracy test.”

Verheugen called last week’s collapse of the UK based Rover car manufacturing company as “not very surprising,” And “part of the process of restructuring” Europe’s flagging industry.

He said that he would take a long look at the problems of research and development, areas where he believes Europe should concentrate its efforts.

“The starting point for the whole discussion is a view of a modern 21st century understanding of industry policy that has nothing to do with the past”, said Verheugen.

And he said that there would be no protection policy for the automotive industry.

The high level group is expected to deliver its recommendations by the end of 2005.

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