Automotive industry
Economics Minister Márton Nagy negotiated in Berlin with his counterpart, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. The discussion partners agreed that the 2035 date for a general ban on combustion engines in the EU should be reviewed in 2026.
During negotiations with Robert Habeck and the State Secretaries of the Ministry of Finance, Florian Toncar and Heiko Thoms, Márton Nagy advocated for an EU funding program to spread electromobility. The Hungarian delegation also wanted to get an idea of the current situation of the German economy, its competitiveness and its prospects. A focus was on the automotive industry and the future of electric cars.
Rethink the ban on combustion engines!
The Ministry of Economic Affairs in Budapest reminds that Germany was Hungary’s most important trading partner in 2023 with a share of 24%. The share of German investors in foreign investments (FDI) amounted to 18.6% in 2022 or, in absolute terms, reached 18.7 billion euros. Nagy emphasized that Hungary is interested in a strong and competitive European and German economy.
The Hungarian Council Presidency in the second half of the year will include the EU’s competitiveness among its priorities, because Europe must not fall further behind the USA and China. The EU should formulate a uniform industrial strategy, make its funding policy more strict and advance digitalization. With regard to the combustion engine ban planned for 2035, Budapest is in favor of open competition between technologies, whereby the (alleged) climate neutrality of electric cars should be reassessed.
The share of electric cars in new car sales has increased from 1% to almost 15% within five years by 2023. During this time, almost two dozen investments were made in this future industry in Hungary, which together reached a volume of more than 16 billion euros. Almost a quarter of the country’s goods exports are cars, batteries and electric motors.
Protectionism is not a solution
On Tuesday followingnoon, Economics Minister Nagy also met with top managers from the German automotive industry in Berlin. The minister agreed with Glenn Schmidt, Vice President of the BMW Group, Brian Rampp, Head of Global Policy at Audi AG, Jörg Burzer, Board Member of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, and Hildegard Müller, President of the VDA, that protectionism is not a solution for the problems of the European economy. The governments of both countries, in agreement with representatives of the automotive industry, unanimously rejected punitive tariffs on the import of Chinese electric cars into Europe.
It was emphasized that electric cars are the future of Europe, with Hungary’s cooperation with the German automotive industry playing a key role. The top managers also supported the Hungarian politicians’ request to review EU regulations regarding the sale of new cars following 2035.
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