“The general Pnrr system offers a unique opportunity to make up for the country’s delays in terms of reforms and relaunching the economy and employment. This is why we were surprised not to find adequate attention to the automotive sector, which has a preponderant weight in the mobility of people and goods and which represents the production sector most committed to research and investments for the ecological transition “. This was underlined in a note by Michele Crisci, President of Unrae, commenting on the contents of the plan presented by the Draghi government and sent to the EU Commission.
“The measures indicated in the plan – says Crisci – are generally acceptable, even if they can be improved: the strengthening of the railway and high-speed network, the creation of cycle paths, the electric and hydrogen charging infrastructures, are interventions that go in the direction of decongesting road traffic and promote the abatement of harmful emissions “.
“However, we believe – he adds – that a strategic plan for ecological transition risks achieving halved results if ad hoc measures for the automotive supply chain remain out of the way.” oldest in Europe in all its sectors, but which is difficult to replace quickly with ‘iron care’, while it is necessary and urgent to encourage its replacement with new, more ecological vehicles, given that 90% currently travel on road of goods and people “.
Furthermore, according to Crisci, in the reform chapter, which also includes resolutions to remove bureaucratic burdens and obstacles to investments, “the reform of the Highway Code is absent, a necessary intervention to adapt now obsolete rules to new forms of mobility and international regulations. , both any reference aimed at changing the tax framework of the sector, which penalizes us compared to the main EU countries, for example in the excessive taxation on company cars, in the reduced tax deduction for individuals and in the lack of tax relief for road haulage companies that invest in latest generation vehicles “.
“The Government – concludes the Unrae president – will at this point have to find the regulatory instruments suitable for the measures on the automotive sector that have not found space in the Pnrr. For this reason we also hope for the establishment of an Automotive Table aimed at identifying the best solutions to include the sector in a strategic way in the country’s modernization programs, in favor of future generations, without having to continually resort to urgent and short-term measures “.