Hope for Southampton and Oxford's automotive industries

2.54.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 1st Apr 2009

Sharon Bowles MEP, Chris Huhne MP and Euro campaigner Catherine Bearder outside the Southampton car plant last year

There was hope for the future of Oxford's automotive industries this week as the European Parliament voted through measures to secure the long-term viability of the industry.

South East MEP, Sharon Bowles, commented:

"The automotive industry is one of Europe's most important industries. It directly and indirectly employs 12 million workers- that equates to 6% of the employed population in the EU. Its prominence is only too obvious here in the South East."

"These measures are significant because they provide a long-term, systemic approach to the automotive industry. Short-term national bail-outs have so far been ineffective because they fail to address some of the root causes of the current crisis such as falling car sales. They also risk distorting competition.

Welcoming the environmental aspects of the package, Sharon Bowles remarked:

"One of the key strengths of these measures is that they link financial support with environmental performance. We must ensure that new technological research focuses on the development of environmentally sustainable vehicles.

"It is crucial that the current crisis does not make us lose our long-term focus on fighting climate change.