European Union commissioner Thierry Breton has stated the Brexit trade deal shouldn’t reopen to change electric vehicle export tariffs.
Leaders in the EU are being urged by some sectors in the UK and EU motor industry to suspend 10% tariffs on EV exports that are expected to begin in January under the Brexit agreement.
But speaking with the Guardian, Breton said the commission and EU leaders are bound under competition laws to look at the entire automotive “ecosystem” and not favour one “category” in the industry over the other.
“If something has been negotiated, it shouldn’t be changed,” Breton added.
However, earlier this year Stellantis warned that it may have to close operations in Britain with the loss of thousands of jobs if the tariffs were not temporarily lifted.
Its call has been backed by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which has said exports of electric cars to the UK worth tens of billions of euros a year will be put at risk unless the Brexit trade deal is altered.
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But Breton warned that the car industry was not made up of big brands alone and he had to ensure a level playing field for all.
“Remember the automotive industry is not made only of the manufacturers but is made also of the hundreds of thousands of companies providing everything which is needed for a car, including the battery providers.
“It is a global supply chain. I call it the ecosystem, and I have to look at, as commissioner of industry, not at one single part of this ecosystem but all of the ecosystem,” he said.
Each sector had to be treated fairly, he added, as they had the same rights under competition law.
“What has been negotiated has been negotiated and I think it’s very important to stick to a [Brexit] treaty when it has been so difficult to do it. And when we speak about the automotive system, everyone who is part of this ecosystem I have to take care of, not one single category.”
