Potocnik challenges car industry to come up with urban transport solutions 'within the next year'
European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik has challenged Europe's automotive industry to come up with a clear vision for the next generation of road transport in Europe's cities by the middle of next year. The Commissioner was speaking at the ERTRAC (European Road Transport Research Advisory Council) conference in Brussels, Belgium on 26 January 2009. The car industry is under pressure on a number of fronts. Fewer people are buying cars due to the current economic crisis, and car makers worldwide are cutting their workforces as a result. At the same time, the industry has been set the ambitious target of reducing the CO2 emissions of new cars to 130g CO2/km by 2012 (the average emissions level in 1995 was 186g CO2 per km). As the Commissioner pointed out, one strand of the European Economic Recovery Plan is designed to tackle both these issues in one go. The 'green car' initiative is designed to fund breakthroughs in the use of renewable and non-polluting road transport energy sources. The EUR 5 billion initiative is funded by the EU, the European Investment Bank, industry and the Member States. 'Even if there were no economic crisis, from an environmental and energy point of view there is no time to lose in finding alternatives to fossil fuels in order to secure future energy demand and protect our environment and our climate,' the Commissioner noted. Given the sense of urgency brought about by the crisis, the Commissioner expressed his impatience at the lack of progress in getting truly innovative transport solutions onto Europe's roads. 'As a European Technology Platform you are exceptional, and uniquely placed to gather all the necessary stakeholders together to really adapt our transport systems to today's energy challenges,' Mr Potocnik stated. 'It seems we have been talking about this kind of thing for a very long time. I think we are all getting impatient for it finally to become a reality.' The Commissioner commended the participants on their Strategic Research Agenda and their newly-released statement on the electrification of urban transport. He then urged ERTRAC to continue to follow up the implementation of these documents and do more to link up with SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) and consumers. 'You must go the extra mile, you must explore the possibilities of reaching beyond European borders and internationalising your work,' he told attendees. Mr Potocnik concluded his speech by throwing down the gauntlet to the car industry: 'Can you, within the next year, provide workable solutions to the electrification of transport in Europe's cities?' he asked, suggesting that the solutions could be presented at the next Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference, which is scheduled to take place in Brussels in June 2010. 'This event, established for all the stakeholders in transport research to build the greener, smarter and safer European transport we need, would be the perfect time and place for ERTRAC to show us what the next generation of road transport in Europe will look like,' the Commissioner explained. 'So I ask you: are you ready to take up this challenge?'