An Italian-German Dialogue on Industrial Decarbonisation of the Automotive Sector

Industrial policy has emerged as a top priority during a time of intense global competition and energy transition. The current landscape is being shaped by increased geopolitical competition, lack of clear political direction and difficulty to adopt new technological solutions for decarbonization. The European industry has faced significant headwinds given the energy crisis and uprise of energy prices, which severely damaged its competitiveness. These multiple challenges could cause a loss of economic resilience and jobs. Among industrial sectors, the European automotive industry is a clear example, facing a triple challenge:ecarbonization, digitalisation and global competition, especially from China. In response, the new European legislative cycle aims to reconcile climate ambitions with economic and industrial competitiveness and resilience through several initiatives, such as the EU Clean Industrial Deal and the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the European Automotive Industry. Germany and Italy are key players in the European automotive industry and are deeply integrated in this sector. Within this context, fostering deeper bilateral dialogue between Germany and Italy is essential for finding coordinated responses to mutual challenges and for shaping common European policies.

This initiative is part of a new IAI project, entitled “An Italian-German dialogue on European industrial decarbonization and competitiveness”, funded by the German Foreign Office and the Embassy of Italy in Germany with the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation and the Fondazione Centro Studi sul Federalismo. This event is an opportunity to discuss future industrial and energy strategies and to assess potential avenues for deeper bilateral cooperation.

The debate will be kickstarted by the presentation of a IAI paper on the German and Italian automotive sector.