 On behalf of the Committee of the Regents, I must say Commissioner, it's a pleasure and honor to welcome you to our plenary session today. We will be discussing about the creation of an automotive alliance of regions. Now I think we should be clear about what we want, what we intend with this alliance, automotive alliance of regions. And I think it's very, very important to clarify our goal about this issue. We need decisive action to reach the EU climate, EU's climate goals. The transformation of the European automotive industry towards zero emission vehicles is the most comprehensive structural change in the sector to date. Such a complex transformation we think needs to be elaborated and implemented via a multi-level governance framework based on a thorough territorial impact assessment, making sure it has adequate resources, policy support measures and addresses transition planning and social dialogue. The Committee of the Regents and the European Parliament underline that zero emission road transport cannot be achieved without just transition measures for the regions that rely on the industry providing this sector. Both institution underline also that it needs to be supported by dedicated funding lines and policy measures. So the reason why we are creating an automotive alliance by regions across Europe is exactly to see how we can better achieve the goals that are established in a just way, in a way that can prevent a ballast sink address to those challenges. So it is with great pleasure that I now give the floor to Commissioner Schmidt for his intervention. Ten minutes? That's fine. A little bit more? A little bit less? Okay, so ten minutes. You have the floor, sir. Thank you very much. First, I must say it's always a great pleasure to be with you and to come to the Committee of the Regents. I appreciate very much the invitation. Honorable members, but before starting I have again officially to congratulate you for your election as a president, as a new president of the Committee of the Regents. But I also want to thank Mr. Sitsi Kostas for the work he has done. I don't know if he's here, but I want to thank him also for the very good cooperation we had during his mandate. And I'm sure that we will continue on this very positive and very constructive cooperation between the Commission and especially my departments and the Committee of Regents. I must say I am extremely happy to hear about your initiative because I think that this idea of launching this Automotive Alliance of Regents is a very smart and absolutely useful and necessary initiative. The automotive sector is clearly a world-leading industry to the European economy. It represents 8.2% of EU GDP, millions of jobs, more than close to 13 million of jobs, 6.6% of the total EU employment. It generates a trade surplus of 76 billion euros for the EU, billions and billions of tax revenues, especially in terms of investment, 62 billion annually and 33% of total EU spending on innovation. And especially for many regions in Europe. I think it's the majority of regions in Europe are living, are largely depending on this sector, for jobs, for prosperity, for development. So I think this is a really excellent idea to launch this alliance. Certainly, automotive sector, and you have said it already, Mr. President, that is in the forefront of the green and digital transition. It is managing the shift to zero emission mobility and the increasingly rapid introduction of connected and automated technologies because we have on one hand the green technologies, electromobility, but we also have more and more the use of digital technologies in cars. The shift to zero emission mobility is speeding up. We had this week a very important decision which was taken by the Council of Ministers. This 2035 will be the end of the combustion engine in Europe. So this is quite a short time to adapt, to change, to innovate, to switch this production to a new, a totally new technology. This also due to the recognition by the industry that zero emission mobility is not only desirable for the environment, but also critical to future competitiveness. We have to maintain, we have to maintain a strong innovative, and I would say the most innovative car industry in Europe. This is something essential for Europe. This is essential for the future of the industry in Europe. Europe is taking this as an opportunity. I think we have to see this as an opportunity, even if we know, even if we know that this is also at the same time a major challenge which we have to manage. We have to manage this transition which has consequences on many, many enterprises. And the speed and success of managing this significant transition largely hinges on upgrading the skills level of the workforce. Notably digital, scientific, engineering skills that are missing in the job market now. This is unprecedented both in timing and in scale. To manage this transition leaving nobody behind, we need also to ensure that the job transitions are smooth, that we will not end up and this is also the regional dimension with regions losing their jobs, losing their economic substance. We have some bad experience of past restructuring in other sectors. Textile in Portugal as an example or steel in other countries where finally regions became economic deserts and this should not happen this time. So moreover we need to take the entire industry along. The big car manufacturers I think are heavily investing and I have a lot of contacts with all the big car manufacturing and certainly they have some doubts, certainly they have some discussions on this rapid transition but globally I would say they are all rightly on track and I think they are absolutely aware that 2035 is the date and what enterprises need is predictability. So they have to know exactly how they have to organize their investments. So for the big car manufacturing I'm rather confident. Now the point is that the car industry is not just the big car companies or car enterprises. It's an ecosystem of thousands of smaller companies, the suppliers and many of these suppliers are precisely depending still on the combustion engine producing very often very specific parts for the combustion engine car and for them this means obviously the end of their business model. So they have to change their business model within 10 years or a bit more than 10 years. And this is a challenge for all of us, for the enterprises obviously, for the staff, for the employees but also for the regions because many regions have these kind of suppliers, cities depending on one or two companies very much oriented towards special technologies in this area. And these are very often, these are sometimes big groups, they can manage it better because they have also the financial strength to adapt to these changes to see what kind of alternatives do I have to change this company to a new technology. For instance I've heard that some are changing in the direction of digital very much because the new cars are mainly also digital instruments but there are also smaller companies who have more difficulties to adapt to this new situation. There is a recent report which was made and which shows that only 37% of suppliers 37% have already already engaged in this transformation. So this is something which shows that there are still quite a number of suppliers which have not yet started this transformation though they might depend very directly from the present technology, the combustion engine. Now what are the Europe's responses? First I think the major issue is about skills because if we are transforming these production processes and technologies we have also to prepare people to these major changes. And so we launch the pack for skills and here the pack for skills includes also the regions. So I would be very pleased if your alliance joins also the pack for skills because the pack for skills is a dialogue, a cooperation with enterprises, providers, skills providers but also regions, social partners. I think that's our first response to this change. The pack can help address the industry skills challenges as indicated in the decoration that you will sign. Your new regional alliance would like to cooperate with the objectives of the automotive skills alliance under the pack for skills. So this is perfect and I believe this is a win-win situation. First your alliance does not need to start from scratch but you can build on concrete results on the automotive skills alliance. Second the automotive skills alliance can disseminate its deliverables, spread its seed on the fertile grounds of your allied regions. And finally we can also expect strong synergies from this cooperation. Half of the members of your regional alliance either are direct partners of automotive skills alliance or are the location of automotive skills alliance partners. The second major element is what we launched in 2017 and I must say I was not a member of the commission so I can be very positive about my colleagues initiative. Commissioner or Vice President Savkovich initiative was to launch the European Battery Alliance. We all know that the electric car, 40% of the value of an electric car is the battery. It's the battery. So if you are not producing the battery you lose 40% of the added value of a car and you end up not producing not only not the battery but also the car. So I think this was a big challenge and we have built this battery alliance and what happens now is that there are at least 20 projects of mega or giga battery industries all over Europe and here again the regional aspect is fundamental because we have to look how where do these giga factories are created where do these investments should go. They should go there to replace mainly also those companies due to the end of the combustion engine come to an end to compensate the jobs and also the economic industrial substance of this. So I think this is extremely important. We expect now that about close to a million of new jobs can be created in batteries, a million. And I think there will be more because we have to build also the value chain and the value chain is not just the battery. The value chain is starting with the substances, the material which allow us to build the batteries and we know the biggest issue is today to be too much dependent on imports from especially some regions in the world and therefore I think there are possibilities by the way also in Portugal to exploit lithium, lithium is an essential component for batteries to develop also a production of this kind of materials. So I think what you are doing is key. One issue is upskilling, re-skilling the people, supporting investments in new developments like the batteries and I think this is the best guarantee for keeping a strong competitive innovative automotive industry all over Europe and continue to bring prosperity to so many regions all over our continent. Thank you. Thank you so much, Commissioner. I would like to invite you to stay with us. We have a series of statements and interventions from the floor and if you agree after that if you have time to react to them. Now it's my pleasure to give the floor to the president of the CORs into regional group of the automotive industry, our colleague Thomas Schmidt. You have the floor for four minutes. I'm here. Please. Vielen Dank, lieber Herr Präsident. Thank you very much, President, Commissioner, Mr Schmidt, Mr Fries. This is a good day for the European automotive region but beyond that as well because we have all the supply chains and if they had to be created anew we're talking about 1.8 million companies in Europe with at least 16 million employees and we're talking about the very crux of the industry in Europe so we're very happy to see this alliance and I'd like to thank Mr Kostas who took the initiative to set up this alliance. I'd like to thank Mr Katerik, the current president, for continuing this impulse so we could set this up today. Thank you very much today for that. You have positioned people with 10 important points. I'd like to take up some of those points. Because we've been discussing this for a long time there is an urgent need to act with decommissioning. We've got a change in the automotive industry and the supply chains and this has an immediate knock-on effect on our regions. We want to make sure that the trend towards climate-neutral automotive industry be translated into the regions. The automotive alliance obviously looks to the need to achieve the climate goals in the automotive industry and we need support for this. For example, the Just Transition Fund could be part of that support. It's important for us and Commissioner Schmidt said this for this entire process to be mirrored in education and in further training and in terms of creating new jobs. That's where we've got to start and we need a competition between the best solutions and I'm not just talking about the engine I'm talking about the entire chain the battery alliance was mentioned. Again we need to have competition to find the best solution and I'm sure that leaps forward in technology that we're unfamiliar with now. We'll have new ways of storing energy and we need to be at the forefront in Europe. However, what we also need is a framework for research so that we can achieve these results and we need to get over this valley of death of failed innovations so that we can come up with something new and brilliant and in the automotive alliance we have the solution at European and national and regional level or at least we have the possibility of finding the solution. So thank you very much. Best of luck to the alliance. We look forward to future work. Right now I would like to invite the representative of the European Association of Automative Suppliers Mr. Siegfried de Vries to take the floor for four minutes. You have the floor. Thank you so much. Hello everyone. Thank you for the invitation. Happy to be here and indeed also from our side and I'm happy today not only to represent the European automotive suppliers but also the automobile manufacturers and tire manufacturers and also the dealers and workshops. We together are founding members of the Automotive Skills Alliance which was very much supported by the Pact for Skills by Commissioner Schmidt and we are so happy that also today the regions here launched the regional alliance. I think it's fair to say that the automotive industry are staunch supporters of the regions but very much also the other way around. Regions are very staunch supporters of the automotive industry. So we're really happy to be here and to really also voice our full support for this alliance. We believe it's extremely important. I was mentioned before yesterday the Council of Member States or the Environment Council has taken a very important decision on CO2 standards for cars and for vans. The facto banning internal combustion engine technology. We were not in favor of that position. We believe there is a need for rapid electrification but there is also still a need and room for advanced combustion engine technology which will also be needed elsewhere in the world to achieve our climate targets, carbon reduction targets. So we are not arguing to compromise on climate goals but we are arguing to make this transition manageable and we believe there might now be unnecessary disruption that we will see especially also in the regions and as Commissioner Schmidt mentioned also on the side of the automotive supplier specifically because they have the biggest job to do to transform and there's very little time. They're very, I think they're very busy. I think that the 37% that you mentioned may well be true but I think everybody is very much aware that they need to transform. It's just that their order books today are still filled with orders that are needed for combustion engine related technology and they have to make this transformation in a very short amount of time which they will do but they need support and it's important that all parties are brought together that there is co-creation especially also at the regional level involving academia, vocational training, local authorities, industry, everybody basically that needs to chip in and that is very knowledgeable also about the local situation because there is where it needs to happen and also where the impact will be felt very much. I mentioned the automotive skills alliance. I'd like to stress it again. We really hope that this automotive skills alliance can kind of get a home as well in the new automotive regional alliance that's launched today. We already have a very good working relation with the Committee of the Regions Automotive Intergroup and again I'd really like to voice our strong support, our full offer of support going forward again on behalf of the automotive suppliers but also the other place in the automotive sector. So thank you very much. We're the ones who thank you. Thank you for giving us your insights. Now we're going to have the regional view, the perspective of two regions that are where the automotive sector is important. So it's my pleasure to give the floor to members Juan Garcia Gallardo from Castile Leon and Guido Guidesi from Lombardy. Mr. Gallardo, you have the floor for three minutes. Good afternoon Chairman, good afternoon Commissioner. Thank you very much for this introduction and thank you very much to all the participants in this forum. This is the first time you welcomed me here and I hope it's not the last. Now Castile Leon is one of the leading automotive regions and I think it's really very important for us to set up alliances so that we can cooperate and focus our attention on the interests of our own industry and all Europeans, particularly workers in the automotive industry. I sincerely believe that it is our duty to look after the environment and nature and all natural areas. However, we also need to be aware of workers' needs. They're not the ones who are responsible necessarily for destructing of the environment. I think that we need to extend the useful life of vehicles. That's one thing that the vehicles own by the people in Castile Leon for example and all regions and territories need to support innovation. We need to be at the forefront of research investigation and we also need, I think, to move towards new forms of transport to have transitions towards different forms of mobility and we shouldn't limit this to one single form of mobility. We need to be open to other options other possibilities, for example green hydrogen engines. We also need to strengthen industry so that they can work on new things like the battery industry, for example. Battery industry, that's certainly part of this. We need to create new infrastructures as well to facilitate transition. It's very important also that we protect vulnerable people and all people so that people have a right to have their own car. We don't necessarily need to have low emission zones. What we need is areas which are similar across the board and we need to cooperate in order to achieve that. We need to share information and improve alliances and defend everybody's interest and not just the interest but a particular lobby. We need to pre-empt new forms of mobility being introduced so that we're ready for the future because if we don't rush ahead without doing that we're not going to be able to protect our industry appropriately. Thank you. Thank you. Now I give the floor to Mr. Guidesi from Lombardy. You have the floor for three minutes. Thank you. Good afternoon to everybody. For some time in our region we have been working on the automotive industry. We've made various proposals in order to move towards the zero emissions goal in the European directives that we are all pursuing. Now the proposal that we've made is that we have full technological neutrality. We have defended that view here as well. The aim being to develop new areas of activity by producing compatible fuels, biofuels promoting new areas of research for alternative forms of fuels. We need to do this so that we can promote employment and ensure that the companies who are not able to convert necessarily for example companies who produce components so that they can continue to survive and continue to provide employment and develop new employment opportunities. I would add something else to that. We need of course to protect the production side of our automotive industry on the continent. That's extremely important indeed and I think everybody will understand why that is important. It's not just the social side of things of course. The idea is that all citizens in Europe should be able to own a car. Have one available to us. Now we're aware of the opportunities offered by European funding in supporting technological neutrality and supporting the development of alternatives. Alternative fuels for example. It's very important that we focus on this so that we can reach our zero emissions goals not just through introducing electric vehicles. We need to work step by step of course so that we can make the appropriate use of any research done and also make the best use of the skills already that we already have in our industries. So we support this position very much indeed and thank you very much indeed for this meeting and we hope that this is going to be the first of many opportunities like this. Thank you. Interventions from the floor from our members starting with political groups. I give the floor to Adrian Taban for four minutes. Thank you Mr. President, the commissioner. As you mentioned yesterday the council has taken a historical decision up on the end of the combustion engine up to 2035. This is a great news for the climate and put us on the right track towards improving our road mobility in the not so far away future but this is also a huge challenge for the industry. At this point we should not waste any more time and focus on rolling out charging infrastructure. Also we must start to responsibly source material for batteries and develop this market. However, at the very core of our endeavors there are the hard working citizens of our regions and cities. In my report that was voted in disciplinary just half a year ago the rescaling workers for the electric transition was the core of my argument. From our stand as an APP group we welcome the creation of the Automotive Regions Alliance a much needed support network aiming to ensure a fair and successful transition for the automotive and supply industry. The cost of net zero carbon will be high. My meetings with various stakeholders showed that the fact that transition to a climate neutral economy and zero carbon mobility will improve or decline growth it's only a quantitative issue. Of course prosperity depends long term on decarbonization but over the next five to ten years decarbonization will inevitably reduce the economic potential most especially in the automotive industry regions. From a regional perspective the existence of various ranges of technical solution must be considered. Over one million jobs in car parts manufacturing and supply chain might be lost. We evaluate that two million to four million workers will need the radical upskilling and retraining. In my hometown three thousand jobs will be lost in the next coming years. Facing out of combustion engines cars will influence the automotive industry which will undergo a fundamental cross cutting transformation process. It will affect the production process of the car companies but also the automotive suppliers. Therefore a just transition fund for the automotive sector on the model of the same fund dedicated to the coal regions is imposing itself on the agenda of the EU. Also a true analysis of the specific regional impacts is crucial for providing tailored measures and ensuring the adaptation of the labour market. Employees of the automotive sector need to be rapidly learning new skills. This becomes questionable for older generation or lower qualified workers who will soon be at the risk of losing their jobs for not being able to adapt or find alternatives. It is essential to launch a dialogue and introduce policy measures that accompany workers to upskill or compensate and allow them to move to alternative jobs in the dignified manner. This transition while driving but climate targets and economic competition must be balanced with adequate social policies. We representatives from the Romanian delegation and the committee fully support the commitment to working hard towards fulfilling the climate targets but in a just and fair manner so that no region is left behind. I also encourage all of our members to endorse the joint declaration of the Alliance of Automotive Regions. Thank you. Thank you so much. On behalf of the PES group I give the floor for four minutes to Malte Krukels. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, President, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Schmidt, I'm very happy to be able to take the floor here and everything Mr. Schmidt said I think it's quite true at the same time we're we have a big problem because we're a bit late with the decarbonization so we've got to move swiftly and therefore from an industrial a social and labour market point of view, it's important that we have sufficient flanking measures. My region is not that big, about one million workers. We have 660 supplying companies with 83,000 jobs, and the biggest manufacturer we have is Opel. So obviously there's territorial dimension to the automotive industry. These were changing entire automotive regions, so on behalf of Turing and my political group, I welcome the idea of having an automotive regions alliance. Obviously we need to stick to the climate goals and the Green Deal, and we haven't done a lot in terms of saving CO2. And burning oil is absolutely not an idea for the future. We need it for much further things. We must stop using oil for climate reasons, and we also need to reduce our dependence in geopolitical terms. So as soon as possible we have to stop using a combustion engine which burns oil. We have good flanking measures and framework conditions for the entire sector, as was stated at the beginning of the line parliament, and so we think it's quite true. We need to have more renewables, we have to have an alternative charging structure, and we have to look at the whole CO2 cycle of cars and lorries, and see how that fits into the whole emissions trading system. But it's sure that when we change away from the combustion engine there's going to be big changes, and I think shared mobility is going to be a big play over the next few years. I'd like to say something about the small companies which don't have a lot of capital. We have to help them, we don't want to lose them because they have jobs in those small companies and a lot of added value in the individual regions. So the consequences of the change is not a matter of course. We need help. We're already using EU funds to support SMEs in the changes they have to go through. We already have a cluster with 102 companies, four million turnover, and we need to continue 30,000 employments. We need to continue along this road. We've talked about the skills and we also needed to look at investment and promotion. Thank you. Thank you very much to the COR for supporting this alliance and in the future we'd be very happy to participate. Four to Walter Dranczyk for three minutes on behalf of Renew Europe Group. Thank you Mr. President. I will speak for Aisha, Mr. Commissioner, their colleagues. Automotive sector in visages a broad circle of large companies but also small and medium companies but also including craft shops and service shops. Starting from research, innovation, production and then marketing and sales. Something that we often forget is also the broad sector of after sales. We are all included in this practically every country, every region as well. We all have parts of this very complex mechanism in our regions and this is a very complex system of products and services which envisages a lot of research and innovation. My region of Austria is not highly positioned in this map of the European automotive industry but we do understand definitely that traditional automotive superpowers are definitely having a difficult time today but this is also a great opportunity and that's why we need good examples of excellence. So we had a small startup in Croatia which became a leader in electric supercars and they took over Bugatti for example. This attracted the new investment which opened the 700 new jobs with high added value. We see also the speeding up of the development of electric mobility starting from the new producers but also the traditional automotive industries included in this involved in this. They are moving away from the internal combustion engines and this is definitely why we support this initiative. I don't think we need to fear anything. We need to be brave. We need to be fast. We need to decarbonize this sector as soon as possible. We need to invest in the necessary infrastructure to knowledge and to skills and speed up the transition and facilitate the transition which is already happening. I believe that along with innovation, new technologies and re-qualification and upskilling or re-skilling of the new worker workforce we can all contribute to the decarbonization and our shared goals. Thank you very much. Thank you. I now give the floor to Marco Marcilio to intervene on behalf of ECR Group. You have the floor for two and a half minutes. Thank you Chairman. Abruzzo is a region in the centre of Italy which is playing a central role in preparing some of these alliances and in preparing for industrial transition. We're all aware of the fact that transport must become more sustainable and we can't hide the fact that that's true in our region as well. We have a lot of automobile production and it's becoming increasingly difficult to move towards this transition. Now as the reform, as the group that we work forward, we are now moving towards 2030 to 2035 goals and that means that there are limits imposed upon us and that jobs are at risk so we hope that the Commission will be able to go back to their decisions and make significant changes to the proposals. The industry concerned has cross-border supply chains for example working very much with a regional focus and it's going to be very difficult to move away from dependence on gas and Russian oil and gas when we are working with unstable and sometimes hostile countries like China which might have a monopoly on the market of electric batteries. It's going to be very difficult for us to move towards that. Every area has their own specificities in addition to that and it's very important that we have a proper detailed assessment of the territorial impact and the regional impact of this proposal so that we can have a fair transition which doesn't cause damage. In the light of these considerations it's very important that we have more flexibility in the state aid arrangements for individual regions so that we can avoid some of the negative impact. We need to ensure that we have proper support measures in place for local and regional authorities to encourage them to adopt new technology and that would involve of course investment of public and private funding so as to ensure that the whole industry can remain competitive. Now it's also very important that we ensure that the public has access to zero emissions vehicles. If we don't provide such support we will have a situation that Commissioner Valiant was talking about whereby in 2030 30 million electric cars will be circulating on the roads without proper preparation so as far as we're concerned we need to ensure that proper preparation is in place. Thank you. Sergio Perez Garcia on behalf of the European Alliance you have the floor for two minutes. Thank you. A large part of Navarro is an industrial and also the automotive industry that makes up for about 50% of exports from our regions so also therefore about 13,000 jobs. We have the Positarian Factory which is recognised as one of the best in region. We have three universities which are leaders in this area as well and as Commissioner Schmid said it's very important that we support upskilling of workers in the automotive sector so that we avoid negative impact in our region. We need to work across Europe to promote green technology. This will lead to changes of course which are going to affect our workers and their families. We are one of the first regions in our country which has provided incentives for people to acquire electric cars. However it's necessary for us to be flexible more flexible with state aids so that support can be provided to the industry as it converts to new areas. Our region has 25% of its border with France and we would encourage more work on a network of recharging points for cars. It's very important that we work across borders so as to introduce pilot projects across Europe which can be interoperable. We are at the moment working towards the European Green Deal but we need to ensure in doing that. We don't leave anybody behind. Thank you. Half of the Greens will intervene Florian Hasler for two minutes. You have a floor. Thank you very much. Baden-Württemberg is the government that I represent and it's the very cradle of automotive production. 470,000 jobs in total in small and bigger companies and therefore the transformation of the automotive industry is a crucial issue for us and for Europe as a whole both economically and ecologically and therefore in our federal state we have decided that we wanted to be a climate neutral region. We want to have as much security as possible in this transformation process and we want to create future-proof jobs. So we set up the automotive industry dialogue group. Let us now transfer this to European level because I think if we're going to have an economically and socially it just a transition we need to have the proper flanking measures. We need to have more charges throughout Europe both in rural and in urban areas. We need to have much more renewable energies and to have a better distribution network. If we can charge our cars with green electricity we're helping the climate. We really need your help Commissioner and we need to invest massively in the training of our workers so that they have the skills that will be needed in the future. Thank you very much for saying what you did about the skills alliance. We look at this. We're very happy that we're now setting up the automotive regions alliance. It's an important signal to be sending to have the proper framework conditions for the further development of the automotive sector. I look forward to working with you. Thank you. Last group of speakers members from the floor and also concerned regions that are members of COR. I give the floor to Patrick Molinos for two minutes. He comes from Bourgogne France Conte. You have the floor two minutes. Now give the floor to Christian de Beve for two minutes. Thank you Commissioner. Thank you President. Thank you colleagues. I think we need to prepare for the future rather than just suffering the consequences of this. We all know that it's very important that we need to prepare for the future rather than just suffer the consequences of it and that's exactly where we stand now. We have the 55 percent reduction of emissions by 2030 with 100 by eventually 100 percent of very binding targets and the question is how can we reconcile those objectives with not destroying a whole important sector in our economy. It's not just a question of an environmental revolution. It's a question of changing behaviors and mentalities in the automotive industry and in fact it's the whole issue of mobility that we need to rethink. We're talking about 120,000 jobs and 220 businesses in our area that's to say one quarter of the whole industry in terms of production and export so it's very important indeed for us. Also we have the climate emergency which means that we can't try and find ways of gaining time. What we need to do is find measures which can help the industry as it moves forward to convert without major damage and without a negative impact on employment. We very much support the declaration which is being proposed to the Committee of the Regents today. The Committee of the Region has in this area as with others the opportunity to show how useful it can be for businesses and regions vis-à-vis the Commission. We need a political area for discussion and debate where we can talk about our environmental economic goals. Of course we could say that this transformation is only going to affect the automotive industry but these are ambitious goals and they're extremely binding so it's an unprecedented challenge. That's why we need public, flexible, rapid and effective strategies in place. Thank you. Close to Josef V Skupic from Trnava. You have the floor for two minutes. Thank you very much dear Mr. Commissioner, dear Mr. Chair, dear colleagues. Thank you very much. It is very important for me to take a floor during this session on such an important topic as Automotive Skills Alliance is the automotive production and supply chain in my region Trnava, country Slovakia for most of account for most the economic activity. Regions which strong automotive ecosystem such as Trnava region is are now facing the green transition and it is not any more the question of whatever will be affect our regional development, yes or no, but rather how strong the impact will be. The regional administration as regional administration we need strong tools in our hands in the process of transformation to be able to for ease, adapt or cooperate among of each other but more importantly our local expertise and concerns have to be taken into account in every steps of the process. Having been the president of the Trnava region for almost five years I understand perfectly what the needs that should be addressed within our territory I see investing in human capital among the most essential and valid action that can be taken in form of concerted upskilling projects training and relevant educational scheme schemes. This is why I'm really happy that my region is an active member of Automotive Skill Alliance which opens doors for the cooperation in European level based on the local and regional experience. Dear colleagues I would like to express a strong support for the Automotive Regions Alliance. We need ready to work together with Automotive Regions around the Europe to ensure fair and just transition for all. Thank you very much Mr. Commissioner and a great support for battery Alliance I think it's great idea. Thank you. From Catalonia Albert Castellanos floor for two minutes. President of the Committee of the Regions Commissioner Smith very good afternoon and very nice to be here at this committee now as far as the Catalan government is concerned we are very enthusiastic about this initiative being taken by the Committee of the Regions we have of course had a very clear statement of us moving forward in this key sector in Europe and in our country and we don't have as much or at least the richness of Europe is reflected in its regions. Catalonia is a leader in the automotive sector and wishes to continue to be that. We need to bear in mind that one out of every four vehicles in Spain are produced in Catalonia and it's the second most important industry after the agri-food industry in our region and very important proportion of our GDP. 40,000 people are employed in the sector and there are more than 350 businesses in the overall value chain and this as I say is a leader also this value chain in moving towards the use of electric vehicles. Now in Volkswagen said that in 2025 they're going to start producing their own electric vehicles and we've also got startups operating for example and others with an international reputation. So we are talking about the most important transformation over the last 50 years with the electrification system and autonomous vehicles and in Catalonia we believe that we need to focus particularly as the statement of the Declaration by the Alliance says on certain areas. We're not just talking about the process but we need to work on the process and make sure that nobody is left behind. So you can very much count on our support. Ski for for one minute. Forgot me. There's Gotthard before and this is me. Oh okay so you don't want to speak now. To be as Gotthard you have the floor for one minute. Okay thank you Mr President, Bayern is one of the leading automotive regions in Europe. We always have a fight about whether Baden-Württemberg or Bavaria is the leading region but in any case we very much welcome the setting of this initiative. We have about a quarter of a million jobs in Bavaria and 1,100 companies and when it comes to tools we have many more companies which deliver to the automobile industry. 33 percent of our turnover or our income in the land comes from the automotive industry so therefore it's very important that we keep looking at the technical requirements without forgetting about the green goals. E-fuels continue to be an important aspect of this so we shouldn't forget about the combustion engine all together. Ski for you have the floor for one minute. Schwarz-Ski for one minute. Dan Boyle you have the floor for one minute. Thank you President and the idea of an automotive alliance from regions is to be welcomed and encourage the idea of car companies wanting to identify the need to change is also something to be welcomed. However that there has to be a degree of seriousness in following the trends that need to be followed. The commissioner has indicated in his opening statement the need for the business model to change and this means car companies realizing the consumers will not change their cars as often. This means that the use of cars needs to be more circumscribed and trends where larger vehicles are being produced like sports utility vehicles SUVs and where many of the electrical vehicles are being promoted as SUVs are contradictions in terms because more materials are being used causing more carbon being created to make the SUVs and for larger electrical vehicles to be made they'll use more carbon in how the electricity is being charged into those cars. So those type of contradictions are the very things that the automotive alliance needs to tackle. Thank you so much the floor goes to Elia del Millo for one minute. Thank you President the car industry plays a central role in the economic fabric of the lump body region. For example it's important to note that we have about a thousand businesses 20,000 jobs and a turnover of 20 billion euros a year. Now we have the sustainable mobility manifesto in the lump body region we are asking for conditions to be put in place so we can have a gradual technological transition and a rational one so we avoid a situation which would lead to a loss of leadership in Europe which we've acquired over a century's time. Now this proposal to impose a stay on production of combustion engines by 2035 is the result of an ideological choice which might mean the tire industry ends up being dependent on third countries such as China and this would mean that we lose autonomy in production in Europe and we hope that we're going to be able to receive proposals on creating special funding but we're not sure. We believe that the alliance's statement is a good way of putting our position forward. It goes to Josef Kolbor you have the floor for one minute. The colleagues the necessary transition to zero emission vehicles will have a major socio-economic impact at local level and the labor market. I think we have to let me clear the road to climate neutrality defined and the Green Deal agenda is is and must not be in question. So I think in this initiative we have to speak about small and medium enterprises who are suppliers for production electric buses electric ones trucks and shared vehicles. So this is the main teaching there small and medium enterprises who are suppliers and not for the big factories. It is the main reason of this initiative I think. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Markula you have the floor for one minute. Thank you Chairman. Thank you for the floor. I'm happy to be speaking for the Finnish delegation. I would like to mention the role of Finland as a modern nation which is very far in the technological front very well developed and I would like to stress the fact that this is really important to move rapidly forward. This is why this alliance is an excellent solution. We have a lot of know-how on traditional car industry or but also future cars because cars will start flying and whatever that there is in between road transport and flying. Well I have learned to drive on ice. This was on the sea which was frozen so it needs to be borne in mind that in the Arctic regions the circumstances are very different and thank you. Opposed to Mr. Molinos for one minute. No thank you. We have now a message that comes to us through video from the Prime Minister of Saxony Michael Kretschmer. I would like to greet you all in the committee of the regions. You're a very important body and through your work you've been able to launch a lot of initiatives over the years and you've been bringing people together. I'd like to thank you on behalf of Saxony. As you know we live in an area where we have three countries coming together Germany, Poland and Czechia. We keep an eye on your work and we profit from some. All the great more grateful that you've taken up the automobile industry. It's a region that we've benefit from and that we're dependent on that we would like to develop further and it's important that we all speak together in the context of the transformation. The way I see it eFuel is going to be very important and we must be technologically open-minded. We have to make sure that we find the right answer and this new alliance will supply that. I hope that you would be able to do some intensive work and I wish you the best of luck and I hope we have a meeting in Saxony. Best of luck. To Commissioner for final remarks about this debate. You have the floor Commissioner. Thank you Mr President. First I want to thank you for this very constructive, positive and largely optimistic debate. We know that this is a huge challenge but that we have to manage it and we have to build this transition in a just and fair way. Now there's one issue I want just to add. This is social dialogue. The commission is convinced that we will be able to manage this transition also through good social dialogue. Social partners have to work together in order to really make this transformation a success especially in terms of jobs, quality jobs, rescaling, upskilling. So social dialogue is very important. I agree fully that we have to pay very high attention to the situation of Azamiz because they are confronted with the highest problems. We have to support them so the issue which has been mentioned about stay date we have to look at that how Azamiz especially are supported. I also want to say that certainly transforming the car industry is not the end of the whole story. The real story is much broader, much larger. It's about infrastructures, building the infrastructures, reloading stations but it's also about producing CO2 free energy, electricity. And here it means that we have really to invest a lot in the coming years into mainly renewables to be sure that the electromobility is also really, really CO2 free. So I think the big challenge is also about infrastructures and energy production. So I think in this context this is a major project for Europe. It's a chance for Europe. It's a chance for Europe's industry. It's a chance for all your regions and that's why we have to work together. I think the initiative again of the Committee of Regents to bring regions together to foster cooperation between regions as it has been said is really something which helps us to make this transformation successful. Thank you very much. Thank you Commissioner. It's a it has been our pleasure it has been our pleasure to welcome you here and thank you so much for taking the time to be with us and to share with us your insights and your perspective about this such an important issue. Thank you so much. Thank you again.