Automotive Industry

The Future of Automotive Industry

The automotive industry is a key driver of economic growth in Slovakia. However, it faces significant risks, such as the fragility of global supply chains, the regulated transition to electro-mobility, and increasingly intense international competition, especially from China. In the forthcoming discussion, which will follow an interesting format of the Oxford debate, we will discuss the political, economic and security aspects of the future of the Slovak automotive industry, with an emphasis on the upcoming Euro elections. The discussion also aims to contribute to a better understanding of the issue’s complexity while various information and disinformation flood the public debate.

Topic: The future of the Slovak and European automotive industry in the context of the upcoming European Parliament elections: Can Slovakia face the fate of Detroit or Cuba?

The Main Thesis: Slovak automotive industry is facing a loss of competitiveness and resilience.

Speakers “in favour” of the main thesis:

• Jakub Berthoty, Attorney at Law, Representative of the Association of Collectors of Historic Vehicles of the Slovak Republic
• Ján Oravec, Member of the National Assembly of the Slovak Republic, candidate No. 6 for SaS

Speakers “against” the main thesis

• Alexander Matušek, President, Association of the Automotive Industry of the Slovak Republic
• Maroš Halama, Representative of the Slovak Republic in the Batteries European Partnership Association (BEPA), candidate No. 2 for Volt Slovakia

Moderator

Viliam Ostatník, Senior Analyst, Adapt Institute

During the event, we will also address some of the following questions:

• What is the current state of the Slovak automotive industry and how it responds to the current challenges?
• What are the biggest strengths and weaknesses of this industry? 
• How could or should the new European Parliament influence the future direction of the industry?
• Should it press for a review of previous regulations or should it continue to support them?
• How should the EU respond to increasing Chinese competition? Will a state-supported transition to electro-mobility guarantee the future competitiveness and resilience of the Slovak (and European) automotive industry?

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is the debate’s main partner.

The debate is part of a project organised by the Adapt Institute in cooperation with the Association for International Affairs (CZ) and the EAST Centre (PL), funded by the EU. The views and statements expressed during the event do not necessarily reflect those of the EU or the European Commission.