"The transition to a climate-friendly economy must be fair and socially sustainable. This means that regions must be supported politically and financially from the European level. The transformation of automotive regions can only be successful if we make them a question of territorial cohesion: people, whose jobs are at risk, must know that they will not be left alone." Thomas Schmidt, Minister for Regional Development, Free State of Saxony and Chair of the European Committee of the Regions Automotive Regions Alliance made these remarks during a meeting with Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights and Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market.
Minister Schmidt explained that the Automotive Regions Alliance has 34 members. This shows the extent to which regions are affected by the structural change and transformation process of one of the most important industrial sectors in Europe. The Alliance of Automotive Regions is working closely with the Automotive Skills Alliance to respond to transition that would require new skills for workers.
Discussing the contribution of the Automotive Regions Alliance to a just transition, Schmidt said that the transformation must build on the acceptance of citizens. "The regions are closest to people and should play a central role."
Schmidt called for a study by the Joint Research Centre (JRD) on the transformation of automotive regions giving due importance to impact on the suppliers as well as after-sales and service sector (with a focus on SMEs) and the need of new skills. This study is vital to prepare for the next MFF from 2028 to upskill/reskill the regional workforce.
The CoR is preparing its own short study. The basis is a survey of regional auto-motive clusters and networks. It can give an initial overview of the strengths, weaknesses and needs of regional automotive ecosystems. Sven Schulze, Minister for Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt and EPP-CoR member is currently working on the CoR opinion on 'A Just and Sustainable Transition for Automotive Regions'.
Schmidt reiterated his appeal for financial support. "The Alliance calls for the establishment of a European mechanism for automotive regions comparable to the Just Transition Fund. We see that this is particularly important in the field of employment."
Background information
The Automotive Regions Alliance is a political network of regions committed to the successful transition of the European automotive and supply industry. The Alliance is an initiative of the European Committee of the Regions. It aims to bring together regions with a strong automotive and supply sector that want to play an active role in decarbonising the transport sector and to contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal, while strengthening regional industrial ecosystems and value creation, as well as ensuring economic and social cohesion in every European region impacted by the transition.
The EU automotive industry is facing an unprecedented transformation towards the goal of decarbonisation by 2050 as well as digitalisation, which is already having a significant impact on the 14.6 million Europeans directly and indirectly employed in the automotive value chain. A major challenge is the workforce specializing in the manufacture of internal combustion engine related products, which needs to be retrained and upskilled for new opportunities. At the same time, there is enormous demand in the new value chain for alternative drive systems (e.g. batteries and electromobility) and digital vehicle networking, but there is a shortage of suitably qualified personnel.
