Speeches

Dear Mr President, The rise of electric cars is an opportunity for the automotive industry to secure Europe's leading innovation potential. However, the rise of Chinese competitors presents a new challenge. While Europe must remain open to fair cooperation with China, the transition must not increase our excessive economic exposure. By contrast, the Hungarian government, which so proudly defends national sovereignty, supports the giant investments of Chinese car and battery factories instead of European companies. These factories often provide worse working conditions than European competitors, the workforce is not local, but mainly Asian, and they put an extreme strain on our environment. Moreover, these so-called "greenfield" investments divert valuable agricultural land from production, which also harms the interests of local farmers. BYD's new Hungarian car factory provides a loophole to circumvent European import duties on Chinese electric cars. However, this economic policy failed despite the investment subsidies of around HUF 1000 billion. Battery production fell 32 percent in one year by the summer of 2024. Instead of polluting and uneconomical factories in China, it is necessary to support investments that increase the added value of the domestic automotive industry and create quality jobs. That is why I am asking the European Commission to use the tools at its disposal to monitor compliance with the environmental standards that apply to them, in order to ensure genuinely sustainable development for Europe and Hungary.