On October 16, 2024, SDA Bocconi, ECCO, and Agora Verkehrswende organised the conference “Technology Neutrality and the European Green Deal: Which Solutions for a Competitive EU Automotive Sector?”, inviting economists, policymakers, and industry representatives to discuss the best strategies for designing climate policies while supporting the competitive transformation of industrial sectors, particularly the automotive industry. The discussion focused on analyzing the economic effectiveness of a technologically neutral regulation, the market failure risks associated with such an approach, and the need to integrate specific policies to foster innovation.
Read the proceedings of the Conference
Read the discussion paper
The context
The next five years of the new Commission’s term will be crucial for reaching the objectives of the European Green Deal and for ensuring the continued competitiveness of the European industry in the era of green technologies. Yet the EU macroeconomic framework, recently revised, coupled with the high level of national debt within many of the EU 27 makes it clear that much-needed public money is in short supply and needs to be carefully targeted.
Against this backdrop, it is important to inform the national and European debate on options for directing investments. In this regard, it is deemed necessary to address the issue of technology neutral regulation from the perspective of economic theory for a critical assessment of this approach in European and national climate and industrial policies. This is particularly relevant for the automotive sector, in the context of the industrial transformation towards zero emissions technologies and at a time when the Letta Report on the Single market calls for an EU industrial strategy with a more European approach.
The conference
Aim of the Conference is to invite economists, policy makers and representatives of the industry to discuss about best options in designing climate policies, while simultaneously addressing the competitive transformation of the industry.
Is a technology-neutral approach really cost-effective? What are the risks for market failures of a strong technology-neutral regulations? Can technology-specific policies be compatible with innovation? Which key reforms in the single market can support the competitiveness of industrial transition while meeting climate goals? What does this mean for the future of European industrial policy for the automotive sector?
To address these questions, the conference will be introduced by a discussion paper drafted by Agora and ECCO. The paper adopts the perspective of economic theory for a critical assessment of technology-neutrality approaches for climate policies in the context of industrial transformation towards green / net-zero technologies. The case is made for the EU’s regulation of CO2 standards for cars and vans in the transition to zero-emission road mobility, set against the backdrop of the European automotive sector’s competitiveness in global market dynamics.
Watch the conference
Conference Agenda
WELCOME SPEECH
Enzo Baglieri, Associate Dean at SDA Bocconi, Professor of Technology, Innovation and Operation Management, Bocconi University
CONFERENCE INTRODUCTION
Matteo Leonardi, Executive director at ECCO think tank
Christian Hochfeld, Executive Director at Agora Verkehrswende
BACKGROUND SPEECH
Beatriz Yordi, Director, Carbon Markets and Clean Mobility, DG Climate Action, European Commission
CONFERENCE PAPER PRESENTATION – Critical assessment of technology-neutrality regulation approaches for climate policies. The case for the transitioning to zero-emission road mobility
Massimiliano Bienati, Head of Transport Programme, ECCO think tank
Carl-Friedrich Elmer, Senior Economist, Agora Verkehrswende
DISCUSSION PANEL A – Technology neutral vs technology specific regulations in the perspective of the economic theory
Chair: Matteo Di Castelnuovo, Master in Sustainability Management Director, SDA Bocconi
Speakers:
Lucia Visconti Parisio, Full professor of Public Economics, Università Milano Bicocca
Alfredo Di Tillio, Associate Professor of Economics, Bocconi University
Daniel Gros, Director of the Institute for European Policymaking, Bocconi University
Enrico Giovannini, Full professor in Economics Università Tor Vergata and former italian transport Minister
Daniel Sperling, Founding Director, ITS-Davis and Co-director, ITS-Davis European Transport and Energy Research Centre
IMPULSE SPEECH
Sigrid De Vries, Director General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (Acea)
KEYNOTE SPEECH – The Green Deal in the perspective of the new EU Single market
Enrico Letta, President at Jacques Delors Institute and former Italian Prime Minister (Video message)
DISCUSSION PANEL B – Policies to be addressed for a competitive transition of the EU automotive industry in the new Single Market in the context of global market dynamics
Chair: Giulio Piovaccari, Correspondent at Reuters News Agency, international service
Speakers:
Christoph Hinrichsen, VP Public Affairs Enlarged Europe, Stellantis
Thomas Becker, VP Sustainable Mobility at BMW Group
Enzo Baglieri, Associate Dean at SDA Bocconi, Professor of Technology, Innovation and Operation Management, Bocconi University
Q&A AND CLOSING REMARKS
Francesco Perrini, Associate Dean for Sustainability and Professor of Management, Bocconi University
Photo by SDA Bocconi
