GEAR 2030: ETRMA urges Europe to work towards achieving “true fairness” in markets

On 26 January, the European Commission announced the launch of GEAR 2030, a High Level Group that aims to address the challenges facing Europe’s automotive industry. The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) states that it “welcomes” the Commission’s decision to set up GEAR 2030, adding that it “looks forward to contributing constructively to identifying those policy and legislative interventions that are needed to indeed boost the competitiveness and growth of the automotive industry.”

The ETRMA views Europe’s tyre industry as being the “most and the earliest regulated area” within the region’s automotive sector, and as such it believes the industry is both able and willing to accept any new mobility-related challenges in the mid to long-term, including the development and introduction of automated and connected vehicles. However, the association that represents European manufacturers and national tyre organisations emphasises that the tyre sector is “very sensitive to solutions to the current issues ‘prior’ to going forward.”

What this means is that the ETRMA is calling upon “European Institutions” to “take care” of the sector’s manufacturing assets and jobs. “This would better enable the tyre sector to sustain its key role in the mobility sector in the future, as well as to remain a vital part of the European automotive value chain,” wrote the ETRMA in a statement today.

The ETRMA’s hope is that GEAR 2030 will take a leading role in making “EU legislation workable” in terms of market surveillance, connecting consumers with proven high-quality products, and in terms changing mindsets in the EU in order for the automotive industry to grow in resilience. The association urges the European Commission to “use all the tools available to make the level playing field to become a true reality on the European market.”