European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA) is calling on the European Commission to take decisive action to support the sector suppliers against mounting unfair competition.
Ahead of the anticipated publication of the Industrial Accelerator Act, CLEPA’s president, Matthias Zink, and vice-presidents, Iñigo Laskurain, Jean-Luc di Paola Galloni, and Marco Stella, have issued an open letter urging President Ursula von der Leyen to act, Kallanish notes.
While welcoming global trade, they warn that distortive subsidies, state-backed overcapacity and unilateral tariffs are placing European automotive suppliers at a structural disadvantage.
“Without intervention, the EU risks trading its technological sovereignty for permanent dependency on regions with lower costs and weaker regulations. A clear and ambitious definition of the ‘European vehicle’ is essential to ensure that the value of the mobility transformation remains anchored in Europe,” it claims.
According to CLEPA, to bolster industrial resilience and sustain high-quality jobs, the Industrial Accelerator Act must include a 75% local content threshold at the vehicle level for public support (excluding batteries), targeted and gradual thresholds for critical technologies such as electric powertrains and electrical & electronic components. “Europe’s automotive suppliers are currently investing heavily in decarbonisation and digitalisation. A clear and ambitious definition of a ‘European vehicle’ is key to ensuring that the mobility transformation and the value and jobs it creates, remains anchored in Europe,” it adds.
The letter also calls for the restoration of a level playing field, with international trade remaining fair.
“The signs are evident in the trade balance sheets of 2025. Imports of automotive components from China have reached €8.2 billion ($9.6 billion). We have witnessed a startling reversal: a comfortable trade surplus of nearly €7 billion just five years ago has declined into a deficit of €0.7 billion. Strikingly, this shift concerns traditional automotive components, segments in which Europe has historically been a dominant player,” it notes.
“If we allow our value chains to erode, we will lose factories but also our strategic autonomy and risk trading European technological sovereignty for a permanent dependency on lower-cost and less regulated regions,” CLEPA concludes.
