Europe’s electric vehicle conundrum

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks about electric cars with Bruegel’s Ugnė Keliauskaitė, Antoine Mathieu Collin and Ben McWilliams. Europe is navigating its transition to green technology while facing energy shocks from the Iran war. How will the automotive sector adapt? Can the European Union make the most of its industrial and trade policy instruments to support industry with minimal protectionism? What do electric vehicle supply chains look like now? Who pays the costs to consumers and industry of making these changes, or funding the related government programmes? Bruegel’s clean tech tracker shows what manufacturing is happening in Europe and where the investment is coming from. How are these trends shaping the global auto trade, and what will be Europe’s best shot to secure jobs and growth? As the US and China ramp up industrial policy, the EU needs to stay competitive. Relevant research: Bruegel Dataset (2025) ' European Clean Tech Tracker '. García-Bercero, I., A. Mathieu Collin, B. McWilliams, N. Poitiers and S. Tagliapietra (2026) ‘ Made with Europe’ not ‘Made in Europe’ should guide EU industrial policy ’, First Glance, 10 February, Bruegel. Keliauskaitė, U., B. McWilliams and G. Zachmann (2026) ' Dependence on fossil fuels, not on the United States, is Europe’s worry ', Analysis 05/2026, Bruegel. This podcast has been supported by the European Climate Foundation . Responsibility for the information and views set out in this podcast lies with the authors. The European Climate Foundation cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained or expressed therein.

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Europe’s electric vehicle conundrum is an episode from The Sound of Economics by Bruegel.

This episode is 45:12 long.

This episode was published on Apr 8, 2026.

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