On March 5, 2025, the European Commission unveiled a comprehensive “Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector” aimed at bolstering innovation, sustainability, and competitiveness within the automotive sector. This initiative seeks to address the industry’s evolving challenges by promoting digitalization, advancing zero-emission vehicles, ensuring supply chain resilience, enhancing workforce skills, and strengthening global competitiveness.
Five Pillars of the Automotive Action Plan:
- Innovation and Digitalization: Establishment of a European alliance for connected and autonomous vehicles to foster collaboration among stakeholders. The plan also proposes regulatory ‘sandboxes’ and substantial investments, including a €1 billion public-private partnership by 2027, to support technological advancements.
- Transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles: Introduction of flexible CO₂ emission standards, allowing manufacturers to average performance over a three-year period (2025-2027). Measures to boost demand for zero-emission vehicles include consumer incentives, accelerated deployment of charging infrastructure, and support for social leasing schemes.
- Supply Chain Resilience: Allocation of €1.8 billion to secure a stable and competitive supply chain for battery raw materials, aiming to reduce strategic dependencies and support the EU battery industry’s growth.
- Skills Development and Social Considerations: Initiatives to address skill shortages and workforce aging through expanded funding for reskilling programs and support for workers transitioning within the automotive sector.
- Global Competitiveness: Utilization of trade defence instruments to ensure a level playing field, simplification of regulations to reduce administrative burdens, and efforts to enhance market access through international negotiations.
FEDERATE serves as a pivotal coordination and support initiative within the European SDV (Software-Defined Vehicle) ecosystem, aligning closely with the European Commission’s “Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector”. By bringing together key stakeholders—including OEMs, semiconductor companies, industry associations, and research institutions—FEDERATE fosters collaboration, harmonizes SDV development efforts, and accelerates research and innovation. Its focus on open-source solutions and a unified SDV vision directly supports the “Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector” goals of digitalization, supply chain resilience, and global competitiveness, ensuring that Europe remains at the forefront of next-generation automotive technology.
“Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector”
