Made in Europe. Local Content Policy for the European Automotive Industry

A letter addressed ahead of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the European Automotive Industry by a consortium of French and Italian equipment manufacturers and their professional associations has demanded the introduction of local content requirements and incentives to fulfil this regulatory void and preserve the resilience of the European automotive supply chain against unfair Chinese competition.The Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector announced on the 5 th of March highlights the need to strengthen the "trade defence" toolbox and "to investigate unfair practices further up the supply chain, including in the batteries and parts segment when necessary" 5 . However, there are no references to local content requirements or incentives, at least for the auto parts' sector.Against this background, the present reports focuses on two questions:-Why is it necessary to implement now a comprehensive local content policy (LCP) for the automotive sector? -What type of policy mix should Europe implement to introduce rapidly and efficiently local content requirements for automotive production? Kratz, Piper, and Bouchaud, 'China and the Future of Global Supply Chains'.