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Ref. Ares(2017)3017955 - 15/06/2017
Putting Europe in top gear 
Speech by Cecilia Malmström 
European Commissioner for Trade  
European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) 
Brussels, 1 June 2017 
Art 4.1(b)
, ladies and gentlemen, 
Thank you for inviting me here today. 
According  your  own  figures,  EU  production  is  responsible  for  over  one  in 
five of the world's cars.  
Alongside related services, it is responsible for 1 in 20 EU jobs. 
The annual value of our exports, €140 billion, could almost pay off the euro 
area public deficit at a stroke; and we export three and a half times as much 
as we import.  
It's a sector that invests in innovation, as the next generation of cars come on 
the market; green, digital, self-driving.  
More  than  that,  it  is  a  sector  which  embodies  the  phenomenon  we  call 
globalisation. 
We policy makers talk about the complexity of global value chains; you live 
them, every day.  


The cars you make, the steel and parts and technology you make them from, 
the machinery and workers and factories who assemble them, the capital that 
funds them, the customers that buy them…  
… all may come from different countries and corners of the world. 
That  complexity  shows  the  hollowness  of  the  simple  slogans  of 
protectionists.  
After all, the biggest exporter of cars from the US is a European company, a 
factory built with European investment.  
Trade isn't a game you win or lose. Rebuild barriers and we all lose. 
Likewise, this sector sees every day the non-tariff barriers we are constantly 
identifying and working together to remove.  
Our policy challenge is your bottom line. 
Unfair  taxes  and  subsidies,  unnecessary  rules  and  restrictions  hamper  your 
opportunities and your business. 
And for all these reasons, this is an industry that has benefited hugely from 
our trade agenda, and our commitment to commerce that is open, rules-based 
and fair.  


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So let me set out a bit for you where we are with our trade agenda. 
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[Other bilateral negotiations] 
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With many of the world's other biggest economies, talks continue. 
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If  Japan  is  the  fourth  biggest  economic  player  on  the  planet,  the  fifth  is 
Mercosur.  For  vehicles  and  parts  alone,  tariffs  to  this  region  cost  EU 
companies €1 billion.  
We relaunched our trade talks just over a year ago, and there is constructive 
engagement across the board.  
Political  messages  seem  to  be  filtering  down  to  the  technical  level.  I  hope 
that,  as  an  EU  industry  standing  to  benefit,  you  will  also  be  lending  your 
support.  
In  all  these  talks,  of  course,  we  will  continue  to  negotiate  in  line  with  the 
approach set out in our 2015 "Trade for All" strategy.  
To  bring  down  trade  barriers,  helping  businesses  grow  and  create  jobs; 
helping consumers get lower prices, better choice.  
Protecting and promoting our standards. 


A trade policy based on our values, and negotiated in transparency. 
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