Spare parts plan would cost €2bn a year, carmakers warn

European carmakers are lobbying hard against plans to liberalise the spare parts market.

Industry estimates that the proposals, which are set to be voted on in the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee next week (20 November), could cost carmakers up to €2 billion a year.

"Companies have invested heavily in designing these cars. We invest in the design and then somebody copies it. It’s totally ridiculous," said Ivan Hodac, secretary-general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

The proposals would end design protection for spare parts so as to allow independent manufacturers to compete with carmakers. They have been stuck in the legislative pipeline since they were first proposed by the European Commission in 2004 and are still at the Parliament’s first reading stage.

Seventeen out of the EU’s 27 member states have systems affording varying degrees of intellectual property protection. Member states such as France, Germany and Slovakia are expected to block the plans.

ACEA is calling for a harmonised ten-year protection system across the EU. "We would like a harmonised system across the EU. Countries like France have up to 25 years protection," said Hodac.

A system granting companies ten years of design protection would, he said, be in line with World Trade Organization rules established under the 1994 agreement on the trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights.

German centre-right MEP Klaus-Heiner Lehne, who is reporting on the matter for Parliament, has proposed an eight-year transition period during which companies could keep existing protection. "The eight years is an offer to open up the blocking minority," he said.

An earlier compromise, which would have allowed companies to introduce a compulsory licensing system after current design protection runs out in 2016, was unacceptable to the pro-liberalisation camp. The system would have allowed companies to charge fees for the sale of their designs.

The European Commission has pledged to undertake an assessment of the effects on industry of the new design rules by 2013.

The design rules come as the car industry is expecting tough EU standards on fuel efficiency. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas wants carmakers to reduce the average carbon dioxide emissions of new vehicles to 130 grammes per kilometre by 2012.

European carmakers are lobbying hard against plans to liberalise the spare parts market.