mr president you could have guessed what these reports would say
we have got a problem and the european union has got to give its opinion
it has got to give the impression that it is in the driving seat to solve the problem
so we have a european economic recovery plan of which the car industry is a part
but in reality each manufacturer is going to look after itself as best it can and each country will look after its manufacturers as best it can
there is of course a possible case for some support some financial support to the car industry and other sectors to keep capital intact and to keep skills intact
but this can only be decided at the national level because the support apart from the european investment bank mentioned by mr verheugen can only be provided by national taxpayers
but there is one thing that the european union could constructively do here at least until the recession is over and that is to give car manufacturers a break from environmental restrictions
the industry is already in serious trouble
these environmental and other standard restrictions make cars more expensive
you are helping to kill off an industry which is already in serious bother
