Italian automotive industry support and advocacy

Italy has initiated efforts to support its automotive supply chain through both domestic funding and international advocacy.

Initially, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy allocated 300 million euros via development mini-contracts. This funding, signed by Minister Adolfo Urso, is intended to facilitate the green transition by supporting technologies such as autonomous driving, connected mobility, and low-emission propulsion systems.

Following this domestic allocation, a broad delegation of Italian regions—including Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania, Lazio, Lombardy, Molise, Piedmont, Puglia, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, and Veneto—conducted an institutional mission to Brussels. The delegation met with high-level European Union officials, such as European Commission Vice President Raffaele Fitto and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

The regions submitted a joint proposal emphasizing the strategic importance of the automotive sector for European industry, employment, and innovation. A central demand of the proposal is the principle of ‘technological neutrality,’ arguing that the transition to sustainable mobility should not rely on a single technological solution but should remain open to all technologies capable of reducing emissions.

Furthermore, representatives called for a more stable European industrial policy to protect competitiveness and production capacity. They specifically requested increased support for innovation, digitalization, and industrial reconversion, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the component manufacturing sector to prevent ‘industrial desertification.’