Geopolitical competition and socioeconomic resilience in CCAM: an innovation and policy roadmap for EU leadership (CCAM Partnership)

CCAM is a key area of global competition and one of the five pillars of the European Automotive Action Plan for the automotive sector, aimed at helping the industry regain its leadership in the shift towards smarter (AI-powered), cleaner, and more connected vehicles, However, CCAM deployment is shaped by evolving geopolitical dynamics, rapid technological advancements, and economic uncertainties. Europe must secure its leadership in CCAM and strengthen its socioeconomic resilience by continuously addressing vulnerabilities and identifying robust pathways for policy development and market deployment. This topic will assess the global geopolitical landscape of CCAM innovation, map future pathways, and develop evidence-based strategies for policymakers, businesses, and investors. The results will support robust, future-proof policies, business strategies, and investment frameworks, ensuring a resilient, inclusive, and competitive European CCAM ecosystem.

Proposed actions are expected to address all of the following aspects:

• Conduct a comprehensive geopolitical and economic analysis of CCAM to map Europe’s strategic position in global competition. Identify vulnerabilities, dependencies and opportunities in business models, supply chains, critical raw materials, technological capabilities, digital and physical infrastructure, validation processes, safety benchmarks, and pricing strategies, supported by AI-driven analytics and innovation mapping tools. The analysis should also assess large-scale CCAM initiatives worldwide, identifying scaling trajectories, tipping points, commercialization barriers, and success factors. These insights should inform strategic policymaking, investment decisions, and Europe’s regulatory positioning in global CCAM markets.
• Develop novel, stakeholder-driven participatory future scenarios to explore plausible geopolitical, technological, and economic developments affecting CCAM, and define associated transition pathways toward desirable European futures that ensure resilience, strategic autonomy, and competitiveness. Use advanced foresight methods (e.g. qualitative scenarios, horizon scanning, technology roadmapping, etc.), complemented by iterative validation through a minimum of three dedicated Living Labs, to understand trade-offs, assess risks, and define strategic priorities under different global conditions. The project should also identify KPIs that capture European added value, unique selling points, and global market positioning, and apply these to assess and guide CCAM competitiveness The project should also identify KPIs that measure the European added value, its unique selling points and global market positioning, to apply these KPIs to define CCAM competitiveness.
• Assess the socioeconomic impacts of different CCAM deployment pathways, focusing on economic, employment, and social equity dimensions. Analyse income growth, employment effects, regional economic convergence, and productivity gains using integrated economic-transport modelling approaches that account for dynamic interactions and systemic feedback across Member States and Associated Countries, economic sectors, and demographic groups. Identify potential disparities and propose policy recommendations and investment strategies to ensure that CCAM contributes to inclusive, equitable, and sustainable economic growth across all regions of Europe. This should include an evaluation of how CCAM deployment can reduce Europe’s reliance on external supply chains, while enhancing industrial competitiveness.
• Develop robust policy recommendations, governance models, and business strategies informed by institutional diagnostics and tested under diverse future conditions through scenario-based stress testing to reinforce Europe’s leadership and economic resilience in CCAM. Ensure regulatory alignment with global standards, strengthen supply chain resilience by reducing reliance on non-EU dependencies, and promote an open yet competitive market environment. Business strategies should identify viable business cases, recommend sectoral R&D priorities, and support innovation scaling, particularly for SMEs and micro-enterprises. Policies and strategies must be adaptable to shifting geopolitical and economic conditions, securing Europe’s long-term market competitiveness and technological sovereignty.

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise (including social innovation), in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Projects funded under this topic are expected to collaborate with the CCAM Technology Observatory by exploring and leveraging complementarities between their respective activities and findings[[ Currently under preparation in collaboration with the Joint Research Centre, to be launched in 2025 with expected operational capacity in 2026.]].

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility’ (CCAM). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on results to the European Partnership ‘Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility’ (CCAM) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.

Projects resulting from this topic are expected to apply the European Common Evaluation Methodology (EU-CEM) for CCAM[[ See the evaluation methodology here.]].