Answer given by Mr Breton on behalf of the European Commission
1.7.2020
The Commission recognises the critical importance of the automotive industry to our economy and the need to prepare it for the shift towards cleaner forms of mobility.
For example, the new standards for CO2 emissions and InvestEU support schemes for car fleet renewals are designed to provide an ambitious but realistic transition towards zero-emission mobility, allowing time for reskilling of workers.
It is important to remember that, while there might be a fall in demand for jobs related to conventional vehicles, there should be an increase in areas related to new technologies such as software development and electrical engineering.
Upskilling and reskilling workers in these fields is and remains a priority. There is also EU support to address structural changes to the workforce including the European Social Fund and the newly proposed Just Transition Fund.
The Commission has also launched, under its Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills, two projects to identify future skill needs and to develop related training.
The first, DRIVES[1], will conclude in 2021 and the second, specifically looking at the battery value chain, ALBATT, will conclude in 2024. There is also a COSME[2] project addressing the reskilling needs for automotive-related small and medium-sized enterprises, which is due by the summer of 2020.
In addition, Directive 2014/94/EU[3], currently being reviewed, requires Member States to set up national policy frameworks for the roll out of alternative fuels infrastructure. As to electric vehicles, there are around 190 000 publicly accessible recharging points available in the EU.
The Commission’s objective, under the Green Deal, is to have 1 million publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points in place by 2025. The Commission is committed to using all available tools and funds at its disposal to achieve that aim.