EU auto summit confirms strategic focus on electric cars

A high-level industry summit in Brussels on Friday has confirmed the clear strategic focus on electric cars in Europe.

“No matter what, the future is electric,” a person with knowledge of the talks between EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen with top executives of the automotive sector told Euronews.

“The industry is extremely aware of the need to transition,” the person who asked not to be identified added.

Going into the meeting, European car manufacturers called for greater flexibility in the implementation of CO2 targets.

“But even if the Commission took down these targets, global competition would set them for the industry,” the person said.

Brussels is pursuing the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050 and has, among other things, decided to phase out new vehicles with combustion engines by 2035.

In Friday’s talks the Commission seemed unwilling to move on the 2035 targets despite recent calls from business and politics for a departure from this goal.

"I know of no better technology than the electric car for advancing CO2 reduction in transportation in the coming years,” Audi CEO Gernot Döllner told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

Instead of emphasizing these advantages, new debates about preserving the combustion engine are constantly being kicked off – ”this is counterproductive and unsettles customers", he added.

A similar view was voiced by Michiel Langezaal, CEO of Fastned and president of ChargeUp Europe, who participated in the talks with von der Leyen.

"Ensuring that Europe can lead the e-mobility transformation globally requires more than standing robustly by a roadmap. It requires industry to have the courage to approach the challenges we face with a growth mindset and focus on the actions needed to make the transition towards e-mobility a success for people, industry and the environment," he told Euronews.

The Commission had convened the three-hour meeting as part of the “Strategic Dialogue” about the future of the car industry to address the current crisis. It was the third meeting of its kind since the beginning of the year.

The continent's car sector has taken a beating and is dealing with faltering sales, high energy prices, growing subsidised competition from China and a hostile trade environment due to US punitive tariffs.

Back in April, EU industry chief Stéphane Séjourné had described the sector as being “in mortal danger”.

"There is a risk that the future map of the global car industry will be drawn without Europe," Séjourné said then.

One of the biggest challenges remains the implementation of the European climate policy.

“The market share of battery electric passenger cars in EU-27 was at 15.6% and at 9% for vans. Widespread mass-market adoption has not happened yet. And it will not happen if we don’t speed up the infrastructure and bring down the total cost of ownership,” Sigrid de Vries, director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) told Euronews.

“But governments and regulators have not invested in, nor demanded, sufficient levels of infrastructure and grid upgrades and incentives remain inconsistent. The consequence: the regulatory targets are no longer achievable,” she added.

For zero-emission vehicles to become an obvious choice for consumers and businesses, carmakers believe that purchasing or using these vehicles need to be more attractive than those with internal combustion engines.

That requires consistent purchase incentives, fairer taxation, lower charging costs and easier access to cities.

At the same time, Europe must accelerate charging and refuelling infrastructure, especially for heavy-duty vehicles, while modernising grids and reforming energy markets to bring down electricity prices – this is one of the key demands of the industry.

The automotive industry, a cornerstone of the European economy, employs over 13 million people (direct and indirect jobs) and contributes approximately 7% to the EU's GDP.