Luca De Meo was born in Rome. back to talking about Euro 7 and Chinaduring his speech during the Trento Festival of Economics. The CEO of the Renault group and president of ACEA once again pointed his finger at the new legislation on polluting emissions proposed by the European Commission. As we already have; I got to see, the manager is the only one who's been there. he has always been very critical of the contents of Euro 7. During his speech, De Meo reiterated all his perplexities; on legislation. He also thanked the Italian government which has taken a clear position on Euro 7. In recent days, we recall, Italy, together with some member countries, has sent the European Union a document asking for changes to the legislation deemed “unrealistic”.
During his interview, De Meo also hopes that the European Union will review his idea.
We are trying (like ACEA) to dribble regulations that we consider inappropriate and non-proportional. Regulation would distract us from the mission to transform the industry, because we would put money on things that have no future. Tomorrow morning I would hope that there will be a review by the EU to change the Euro 7. The Italian government has taken a clear position in this sense and I thank them for their support.
AN INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY IS NEEDED
De Meo then addressed the issue of risks for the European automotive market brought by Chinese companies which continue to grow in this sector. For the manager, there are rules that are the same for everyone and a principle of reciprocity that must be respected.
We need equal rules of the game and a principle of reciprocity, which must be respected. When I was at Volkswagen and we went to China years ago, we didn't go with our hands in our pockets, we had to localize the technology, create partnerships with local companies. We cannot allow everyone to enter Europe without contributing to the growth of the European ecosystem. When Europeans went to China, they had to invest locally, locate some productions.
For the manager, therefore, a clear industrial strategy from Europe is needed. Therefore, we must not close ourselves off but take advantage of the arrival of new brands to grow the economy. Investments must be protected in order not to put the automotive industry in crisis. After all, China's advantages are obvious given that they control the upper end of the value chain. They started working on the electric one much earlier.
In Europe, 11% of the active population works directly or indirectly in the automotive sector. 30% of investment and development is within the budgets of the automotive industry and its suppliers. The sector absolutely must be protected.
The Chinese control the upper part of the value chain, having started 5-10 years earlier. One million electric cars are sold in Europe, while in China 6-7 million. So, their next frontier is; enter Europe. Furthermore, since we do not have a sophisticated semiconductor industry, we depend on others.
De Meo then addressed the issue of ecological transition and the importance of following the principle of neutrality technology. Furthermore, he stressed the need for to work on the development of the recharging infrastructure, which is essential to be able to support the spread of electric cars.
The regulator must tell us where they want us to go, but not exactly how to do it. This must be left to the technicians, the engineers. I, too, continue to preach that they leave us the possibility of learning. to find solutions. The automotive industry is working to make batteries the dominant technology. There are 250 billion invested in battery-powered cars by the European industry, but it is necessary to invest in battery-powered cars. It is clear that if there are no top-up points, people won't buy anything. electric cars.
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