Minister Friedrich Opens SEEK Workshop on the Competitiveness of the European Car Industry in Brussels

Which public support measures can help the European car industry to overcome the crisis? What is the long-term benefit of state aid measures, e.g. car scrappage schemes? Which instruments are especially useful in the European context? These are some of the questions which have been discussed from a European perspective by international researchers, representatives from the European Commission, stakeholders of the European car industry, and decision-makers from the political sphere at the SEEK workshop "The Economics of Public Support to the European Car Industry" in Brussels.

The workshop took place on May 3, 2012, at the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg in Brussels. It was jointly organised by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) and the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and is part of the research programme “Strengthening Efficiency and Competitiveness in the European Knowledge Economies” (SEEK). SEEK is funded by the federal state of Baden-Württemberg and carried out by ZEW. Minister for European Affairs of the State of Baden-Württemberg Peter Friedrich opened the workshop together with ZEW President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz, thereby underlining the importance of the questions discussed.

Mehdi Hocine of the European Commission (DG Competition) and ZEW researcher Dr. Nina Leheyda first gave an introduction to the subject matter. Afterwards, Dick Buttigieg (IHS Automotive), Prof. Pasquale Schiraldi, PhD, (London School of Economics), and Prof. Frank Verboven (Catholic University of Leuven) discussed car scrappage schemes from an economic perspective. A further panel discussion concentrated on state aid measures to support the European car industry. The participants of this discussion were Dr. Vincent Verouden (DG Competition, European Commission), Dr. Hans W. Friederiszick (E.CA Economics and ESMT), and Prof. Johannes Van Biesebroeck, PhD (Catholic University of Leuven).

For further information please contact

Dr. Nina Leheyda, Phone +49 621/1235-172, E-Mail leheyda@zew.de