Czech Presidency calls for coordinated support of EU car industry

The Czech EU Presidency aims to give a new impetus to European car industry, a key sector that has been seriously hit by the global economic crisis.

Together with a rapid implementation of the European Economic Recovery plan, the Presidency also supports ready-made and rapidly available instruments, such as scrapping schemes for old cars, as long as these instruments are used in a coordinated way.

“The Czech Presidency would like to ask the European Commission to come up immediately with a proposal on how to encourage, in a coordinated manner, a European car fleet renewal in the area of vehicle recovery and recycling,” said the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra, on 4 February in Strasbourg. Speaking in a European Parliament’s plenary debate on the impact of the financial crisis on the car industry, Mr Vondra pointed out that scrapping schemes can combine stimulating demand for new cars with positive effects on innovation, transport security and reduction of emissions. Indeed, several EU Member States have already started to use this instrument. However, Mr Vondra stressed, such schemes need to be coordinated across the EU so as to prevent market distortions and imbalances.“We should ensure a level playing field within the Internal Market,” Mr Vondra said.

The Presidency’s aim is to have a proposal from the Commission ahead of the Spring European Council in the context of the evaluation of the Recovery Plan, and to discuss the issue at the March Competitiveness Council, chaired by the Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Říman.