Events

CLEPA Annual Reception 2015

The CLEPA Annual Reception took place on 24 March 2015 in the Concert Noble, in Brussels

This year around 300 participants had the opportunity to listen the speech of Mr Miguel Arias Cañete, EU Commissioner responsible for DGs Climate Action & Energy. Mr de David-Beauregard, CLEPA President, highlighted the strong links and interdependencies between transport, energy and climate, particularly as urbanization accelerates worldwide.

“In mobility, just like in the energy sector, technologies are largely available. The need of their uptake depends on consumer preferences, energy prices, the market and the national and international regulatory framework”, said CLEPA President before listing CLEPA priorities: the reduction of CO2 emissions post 2020, Clean Air, Connectivity and Automated Driving.

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“The future of transport sector is full of exciting possibilities: new high tech materials; connected cars getting smarter and smarter and one day autonomous; seamlessly functioning, intelligent transport systems. One thing this innovative technologies and solutions have in common is that on one can develop them alone” Commissioner said.

The EU CO2 legislation for passenger cars has largely been a success in driving innovations, lowering CO2 and offering planning certainty. CLEPA members are developing a wide range of technologies for further CO2 reductions post-2020.

“We see additional potential via both increased efficiency of the internal combustion engine and increasing market shares of alternative powertrain vehicles. CLEPA members are committed to remaining leaders in CO2 reduction. For the time after 2020 there are, however, reasons to believe that a linear continuation of currently demanded reductions will not be possible. This is amongst other things linked to the costs and market penetration of alternative technologies and the fact that the physical potential of efficiency gains is
“Modern vehicles equipped with driver assistance systems can feel, listen and soon speak with their environment. Connectivity and autonomous driving are the new opportunities and challenges for the years to come and we are committed to deliver integrated solutions in cooperation with our customers, European authorities and all relevant stakeholders involved”, concluded Mr Paul Schockmel, CLEPA CEO.
We are one of the biggest contributors to job and growth in Europe thanks to the Innovation carried out by our members. They invest 18 billion Euro each year in R&D. CLEPA’s members are committed to make major contributions to safer and cleaner cars”, said Mr Paul Schockmel, CLEPA CEO.

As regards automated driving, this is part of a new paradigm shift and mobility evolution.

It is estimated that it will bring tremendous social benefits in terms of road accident reductions, traffic management, fuels savings and additional productivity due to traffic avoidance. CLEPA supports a stepwise approach towards higher levels of automated driving and its technological advancements in key innovation areas.