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.
Programme
- Welcome remarks
Fabrizio Bucci
Ambassador, Embassy of Italy in Berlin
Michele Valensise
Ambassador, President, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
Oliver Rentschler
Director-General for Climate Diplomacy and Geoeconomics, German Federal Foreign Office
- Presentation of the research
Pier Paolo Raimondi
Senior Researcher of the 'Energy, Climate and Resources' programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
- Panel discussion
Alberto Petrangeli
Head of EU Sectoral Policies Unit, Directorate-General for Europe and International Trade Union, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Representative from
German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
Gianmarco Giorda
Managing Director, Italian Association of the Automotive Industry (ANFIA)
Manuel Kallweit
Head of Economic Intelligence Department, Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA)
- Chair
Margherita Bianchi
Head of the 'Energy, Climate and Resources' programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
- Q&A Session
- Concluding remarks
Jacopo Pepe
Researcher, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik-SWP
- Reception
Working language: English