SMMT warns of Industrial Accelerator Act consequences
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has warned the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act could damage both the UK and EU automotive industries.
It has revealed that analysis carried out by Oxford Economics found that the UK and EU are each other’s largest export market for passenger cars, while EU manufacturers sell more automotive components to the UK than to any other global market in a trading relationship worth nearly £69bn annually.
The research also found that UK automotive sustains 250,000 EU jobs through supply chain activity and wage-funded consumer spending, while UK automotive exports to the EU supports around 58,000 jobs and £1.4bn in tax revenues.
The SMMT has warned that these benefits will be put at risk if the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act excludes the UK from key ‘Made in Europe’ provisions.
As it stands, UK-built vehicles would be denied access to incentives available to EU-built products and be excluded from EU Member State procurement, despite the UK’s role in Europe’s automotive supply chain.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “The EU and UK automotive sectors have traded, invested and grown together over many years. Despite Brexit, supply chains remain deeply integrated and the cross-Channel trading relationship is worth €80 billion a year, supporting jobs, growth and investment.
“The EU is rightly focused on strengthening its industrial base, but the UK remains fundamental to Europe’s automotive ecosystem and is therefore essential to that ambition. “Excluding the UK from ‘Made in Europe’ would be an own goal, weakening competitiveness, reducing scale and limiting consumer choice. We need a better outcome – one that recognises UK Automotive as a trusted partner in the Industrial Accelerator Act and strengthens, rather than fragments, Europe’s automotive industry.”
