Cars: Confindustria and EPP call for technological neutrality and alternative fuels

Brussels – The European Commission, with its automotive package unveiled at the end of 2025, which the co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, are currently working on, has shown only superficial flexibility with regard to the sector’s needs, and a shift in approach is now required to ensure a balance between industrial, environmental, and economic needs. Once again, Forza Italia MEP, Massimiliano Salini, called for pragmatism yesterday (30 June) on the sidelines of the conference “The future of mobility in Europe: combining decarbonisation, competitiveness and European industrial excellence”, organised by Confindustria, Confindustria Energia, and the National Association of the Automotive Industry Supply Chain (ANFIA) at the European Parliament. 

Salini explained that “the aim is to use the work on the package — the proposed revision of the CO₂‑emissions regulation for light vehicles and vans — as a lever to overturn the approach of the 2023 regulation, which in our view contains too many errors. It dismantles a fundamental principle behind the EU’s prosperity: competition among the best technologies when pursuing major goals such as decarbonising mobility while keeping a globally competitive industry.” In particular, according to Salini, “the flexibility introduced in the revision proposed by the Commission” last December “is not enough.” Moreover, it is “mere window-dressing,” which, “in particular, does not meet our vision of adequate competition between electric vehicles and vehicles powered by alternative fuels in a way that strikes an appropriate balance between the imperatives of industrial competition, decarbonisation, and the interests of citizens’ pockets, who need a transition that is not forced.” And, as rapporteur for the ⁠European Parliament on the proposed revision of the regulation on CO₂ emissions for cars and vans, Salini highlighted that “what happened at Volkswagen” – namely, the announcement of possible 100,000 jobs cuts – “shows how forced transitions do a great deal of harm.” 

This issue concerning the German giant was also highlighted by Stefan Pan, vice-president of Confindustria responsible for European Union affairs. “If politics dictates everything, we run the risk of what Volkswagen has described as being just the tip of the iceberg,” he pointed out. “We are a very dynamic, very active industry, keen to invest, so let us get on with it; we’ll spread our wings, and we can win the battle. But we need technological neutrality to do so. What we are asking for is to be open to all technologies that help us decarbonise,” Pan insisted. And this does not concern “just electric engines, but also carrying out research into fully sustainable fuels, e-fuels, and biofuels”. Given that “no one in Europe invests as much in research and development as the automotive sector,” we must “maintain and grow 13 million jobs,” while remaining open to “all technologies that help decarbonise: not just the electric motor, but also, for example, research into fully sustainable fuels”, he argued. As far as businesses, the principle translates into “allowing companies to choose the best path to achieve the objective, harnessing our great capacity for innovation with gradual approaches that enable us to survive and overcome the challenge posed by competitors such as China and the United States, who have changed the rules of the game.”

The debate was divided into two round-table discussions – ‘The European strategy for the future of the automotive sector: striking a balance between climate ambition and competitiveness’ and ‘Powering the future of mobility: harnessing the untapped potential of renewable and sustainable fuels’. Among the participants was Forza Italia (EPP) MEP Letizia Moratti, who stressed the technology-neutral approach. “Large companies can relocate production to adapt to new regulations, but workers, families, and SMEs throughout the supply chain cannot do so. This is therefore the main problem we must address, and the key solution is to ensure that SMEs and families are not put in a difficult position. This is where we must restore a technology-neutral approach. Electrification will remain central; there is no doubt about that, but it cannot be the only solution,” she explained in her speech. According to Moratti, “biofuels, e-fuels, range-extending technologies and any innovation capable of contributing to decarbonisation should find a place within the regulatory framework, both before and after 2035.”