Carmakers have refused to back an effort by the EU’s industry commissioner to rally support from leading industries on its plan to prioritise “made in Europe” products, highlighting deep divisions over how to fight back against the influx of affordable Chinese vehicles.
Stéphane Séjourné, the European commissioner for industrial strategy, last week asked business leaders to sign an opinion piece calling for “made in Europe” policies that would reward companies with products using high levels of parts and supplies made in the region with public subsidies.
“We must establish, once and for all, a genuine European preference in our most strategic sectors,” Séjourné’s team said in the article seen by the Financial Times. “It is based on a very simple principle: whenever European public money is used, it must contribute to European production.”