ACEA

CARS 21: Working together for a competitive and sustainable auto industry

The European Union institutions have responded to the need for a strong, practical industrial policy with CARS21, which stands for ‘Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st Century’. The first CARS 21 High Level Group, bringing together European Commissioners and key stakeholders, was established in 2005.

CARS 21 was relaunched in 2010, in order to respond to the need for policy support for the automotive industry. Compared to the original 2005 incarnation, the CARS21 High Level Group had been enlarged with more Commissioners, representatives of Member States and the European Parliament and additional stakeholders to help integrate policy recommendations and to improve implementation. The CARS21 Final Report is available here.

Policy Framework

The group worked on policies that aim to:

• Ensure the competitiveness and sustainable growth of the automotive industry in order to safeguard automotive manufacturing in Europe;
• Provide an efficient framework for the development and market uptake of clean and energy efficient vehicles.

The High Level Group was assisted by a ‘Sherpa Group’ and by expert working groups, who worked on a range of issues, including:

• Research and Development and Innovation
• Infrastructure, including Intelligent Transport Systems
• Energy supply
• Trade, including trade in raw materials
• International harmonisation of regulation
• Fuel efficiency and emission reduction

The CARS 21 Report recommends:

• an integrated approach to emission reduction and road safety goals by encouraging all stakeholders, including industry, governments, fuel companies and consumers, to play their part;
• better regulation principles;
• multilateral and bilateral reciprocal trade agreements;
• fleet renewal and limiting the end-costs to consumers so as to encourage getting the cleanest, safest cars onto roads;
• more international harmonisation via UNECE;
• sufficient lead-times for industry to implement regulatory changes;
• thorough impact assessments and early consultation with the industry.

• European Commission press release: “Commission re-launches CARS 21 high level group for a competitive and sustainable automotive industry”
• European Commission: CARS 21 website
• Commission decision of 14 October 2010 re-launching of the CARS 21 High Level Group on the Competitiveness and Sustainable Growth of the Automotive Industry in the European Union
• The CARS21 Final Report is available here

last updated 30/06/2012

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