Labour representatives at German auto supplier Bosch have called on European Union policymakers to introduce rules that incentivise local production, saying such steps are necessary to arrest job losses in the sector.
Frank Sell, who leads the general works council at Bosch’s Mobility unit and represents roughly 70,000 workers in Germany, argued that keeping manufacturing and jobs inside Europe is central to the industry's successful transformation. "The transformation of our industry will only succeed if we keep value creation and jobs in Europe," Sell said.
Sell's intervention comes as Bosch prepares to reduce its core automotive workforce by 13,000 positions by the end of the decade. Company cuts form part of a broader wave of layoffs across the car sector as traditional automakers contend with intensified competition, rising costs and changing market dynamics.
"The transformation of our industry will only succeed if we keep value creation and jobs in Europe,"
In response to these pressures, Sell urged the adoption of clear "'Made in the EU' rules that give us the time we need to work together to become competitive." He framed such regulatory clarity as enabling cooperation between industry and policymakers to improve competitiveness.
At the same time, the European Commission is reported to be evaluating trade measures designed to protect regional manufacturing from low-cost Chinese carmakers. Companies named in the context of that competition include BYD and Chery, which are increasingly targeting European markets as growth opportunities amid a slowdown at home.
EU leaders are expected to address the bloc's widening trade deficit with China at discussions scheduled for next month. The combination of Bosch's announced job reductions, industry calls for EU-level policy responses and the Commission's trade review underscores the tension between production competitiveness and protecting employment within Europe.
The labour representatives' appeal links workplace representation - measured in tens of thousands at Bosch's Mobility unit - with a call for concrete trade and industrial policy actions at EU level. How those policy discussions evolve, and whether they result in rules that favour local production, remains to be decided by EU institutions and member-state leaders.
Contextual note - Bosch's workforce figure and the announced job reductions were cited by labour representatives as the immediate rationale for seeking regulatory changes at EU level. The European Commission's assessment of trade measures and the planned debate among EU leaders on the China trade deficit were noted as contemporaneous developments.