BRUSSELS—The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association has published Vision 2030 document, its tire-related recommendations for the European Parliament and the European Commission.
According to the ETRMA, one of the main goals of the Vision is for the tire industry to remain a stronghold of European manufacturing.
To achieve that, said ETRMA, European bodies should work on enforcing legislation and compliance as well as promoting industrial competitiveness through affordable energy and international trade.
The Vision also aims to maintain EU's lead in terms of design, manufacturing process and performance, by increasing the availability of EU funding for (collaborative) research programs.
The programs, it said, will leverage industrial investments, create synergies and secure Europe's technological lead.
Another item on the to-do list was to “guarantee regulatory predictability” in the EU.
To that end, the EU will be need to take account of the impact of policies in different fields, which may entail technology trade-offs for the tire industry.
“A careful balance is needed between ambitious climate and traffic noise policy objectives on the one hand, and road safety targets on the other. These objectives must also be set in a way which is not prescriptive, and respects technology neutrality,” the report said.
ETRMA has 12 global tire makers as its members with 90 tire plants and 16 research and development centers located in the EU.
“By sharing our Vision for 2030, we want to highlight to the European institutions and key policy makers the importance and the needs of an industry which contributes to European competitiveness, jobs and growth and which is a key enabler of sustainable mobility and safer road transport,” said Fazilet Cinaralp, ETRMA secretary general.