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Automotive Action Plan
In March 2025, after the release of the Clean Industrial Deal, the European Commission published its Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector. It outlines the Commission's strategy to support the automotive industry through its transition to zero-emission, connected, and increasingly automated vehicles.
The plan emphasises the importance of the automotive industry to Europe's economy, accounting for €1 trillion in GDP and providing employment to 13 million Europeans. It addresses five key areas:
Innovation and Digitalisation: Promoting autonomous driving, establishing large-scale cross-border testbeds, and developing a European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance.
Clean Mobility: Reducing transport emissions by 90% by 2050, supporting social leasing schemes for zero-emission vehicles, accelerating the uptake of zero-emission vehicles in corporate fleets, and delivering on enabling conditions for zero-emission mobility, such as the deployment of alternative fuels refuelling and recharging infrastructure.
Competitiveness and Supply Chain Resilience: Enhancing battery manufacturing, securing access to raw materials, and boosting circularity in the automotive supply chain.
Skills and Social Dimension: Addressing employment challenges, skills shortages, and supporting workers through initiatives like the European Fair Transition Observatory.
Level Playing Field and Business Environment: Ensuring market access, diversifying sourcing, and simplifying regulatory frameworks.
The plan includes flagship actions such as establishing the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance, amending CO2 emission standards, and supporting battery manufacturing under the Innovation Fund. The Commission will work closely with stakeholders to monitor and implement these measures.
What’s in it for hydrogen?
The Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector includes several hydrogen-related items aimed at supporting the transition to clean mobility and enhancing the competitiveness of the automotive industry. It aimed to achieve this through a number of measures:
- Hydrogen Refuelling Infrastructure: The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) will provide EUR 570 million for projects focused on the rollout of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in 2025 and 2026, with a particular emphasis on heavy-duty vehicles.
- A legislative initiative on Corporate Fleets is expected before the end of 2025. Whereas it is unclear how the Commission is planning to support the transition of captive fleets towards zero-emission vehicles, the proposal should be relevant for the hydrogen industry.
- The finalisation of interinstitutional negotiations on the revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive, which would grant hydrogen heavy-duty vehicles extra payload to compensate for the heavier drivetrain.
- The Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, to be adopted in the course of 2025 will include proposals for actions to remove barriers to scale-up the financing for recharging infrastructure; hydrogen should be included.
- The Commission will support the development of a Regulation in the framework of the UNECE on the retrofitting of conventional heavy-duty vehicles, harmonising the type-approval of such retrofitted vehicles at the global level.
- The Commission is also exploring action to support the uptake of clean buses made in Europe, including through vehicle fleet and depot conversion support and better aggregation of demand or amortisation rules for local municipalities.
These measures are part of the broader strategy to reduce transport emissions by 90% by 2050 and support the uptake of zero-emission vehicles in corporate fleets.
However, despite the above proposals, the plan does not grant much support to hydrogen when it comes to industrial competitiveness and resilience, raw materials dependency and global level playing field.
Links to legislation and additional information
Automotive Industrial Action Plan
