The future of the European car industry: the challenge of industrial transformation
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Europe's mighty automobile industry is grappling with the accelerating shift to climate-friendly cars. In the face of increasingly ambitious climate targets, a phase-out of the combustion engine looks all but inevitable. The list of countries planning to ban the sale of new conventional cars within two decades is rapidly getting longer: Norway, Belgium, India, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, France, Spain and the US state of California all plan a phase-out within the next two decades.
The impact on Europe's economy could be substantive. In the EU, the automotive sector provides direct and indirect jobs to 14.6 million people, representing almost seven percent of total EU employment, according to European industry association ACEA. In Central and Eastern Europe, the dependence on the automotive industry is even larger, as Slovakia and Hungary largely serve as extended workbenches with modest wages but little R&D.
Media coverage on the upheaval in the car industry has largely focused on the embattled carmakers. But recent evidence suggest that they might manage the shift to electric mobility with fewer job losses than feared. But parts of the continent's huge supplier industry look set to be hit worse, as many smaller companies depend on the combustion engine entirely, and may find it difficult to switch to alternative products.
Join Clean Energy Wire for our digital research tour and gain insights into these issues, get quotes and ask questions to expert speakers and network with journalism colleagues. Journalists covering countries with an automotive industry are eligible to apply for this research tour.
Key questions that will be addressed:
- Which European regions look set to be most affected? Will some regions be in a better position than others to handle the transformation ?
- Could synthetic fuels throw a lifeline to the combustion engine industry? (Witness German car lobby group VDA's resistance to a sole focus on e-cars and their call for "technological neutrality")
- Could new jobs in electric motors, batteries, fuel cells, hydrogen etc. smooth the transition in affected regions? Or do they appear elsewhere?
- To what extent are policymakers and unions preparing for the upcoming shift in the labour market?
- What are their current plans for retraining and other adaptation measures?
- What role does the shift play in local/regional/national politics?
AGENDA
Date |
Sessions and Speakers
|
Sunday June 13 2021 6 - 7.00 pm |
Welcome and get to know each other Don't miss the unique 'CLEW Car Industry Quiz' by our network manager Milou Dirkx
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Monday 14 June 2021 2 - 3.30 pm |
Overview: The scope and the nature of the problem by Dr. Daniel Küpper, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group Dr. Wolfgang Bernhart, Senior Partner / Automotive at Roland Berger GmbH Jon Stenning, Associate Director at Cambridge Econometrics
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Tuesday 15 June 2021 2 - 3.30 pm |
Reinventing themselves - or 'Lost in Transition'? Industry and Suppliers Frank Iwer, Senior Vice President HR Germany at ZF Friedrichshafen Andreas Klugescheid, Head Governmental Affairs and External Relations Europe, Middle East and Africa at BMW Group Jakub Faryś, President of Polish Automotive Industry Association
|
Wednesday 16 June 2021 2 - 3.30 pm |
Of centres and peripheries: Regional economies and labour markets Daniel Rabe, Team Transformation, IG Metall Baden-Württemberg Monika Martišková, Researcher at Charles University Prague
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Thursday 17 June 2021 2 - 3.30 pm |
Creating the right framework for a smooth transition: Policy-makers and the tools for industrial policy Jörg Steinbach, Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy of the State of Brandenburg,Germany Philip Barnstorf, Journalist with RBB and he is also the author of a regular news programme on RadioEins reporting on the Tesla gigafactory in Brandenburg
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Friday 18 June 2021 1.30 - 3 pm |
Putting the pieces together: What have we learned from the stock-take? Fanny Tausendteufel, Project Manager Industrial Policy at Agora Verkehrswende Winfried Hermann, Minister of Transport, Ministry of Transport Baden-Württemberg |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The digital research tour is open for journalists covering countries with an automotive industry.
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All sessions will be in English.
Application deadline for applications is 26 May 2021. We will inform you of the outcome of your application no later than 1 June 2021. Please make sure to have access to your email, and do check the spam folder.
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