Bosch head: EU should focus on competitiveness instead of isolation

European governments should spend more time improving the competitiveness of the EU instead of focusing on the risks companies face doing business in China, Stefan Hartung, the head of Europe's largest car parts supplier Bosch, said in an article published on the website of the Financial Times on July 29.

Recently, European capitals have grown increasingly concerned over the exposure of the region's companies to China as the superpower's relations with the West sour. For example, earlier in July, Germany warned its companies to reduce their dependence on Beijing as it adopted its first China strategy, stressing that the government would not pick up the bill if they fell victim to mounting geopolitical risk, noted the paper.

Governments should target improvements to the single market "if we, as Europeans, want to be competitive", Hartung said in an interview at the German group's headquarters in Stuttgart. "In various areas, you find barriers between countries and import-export relations that are actually sometimes worse than [when doing business] outside of Europe," he added. Privately owned Bosch is among the EU's largest employers and last year made roughly half its 88.2 billion euros in sales outside Europe.

Hartung said "de-risking is not really a great term, because it sounds so easy" and that "you can't de-risk by isolating yourself". But he added that the focus on the issue at least meant politicians in Europe are examining the broader question of "what our [companies] interests actually are."

Hartung's call for governments and Brussels to address the bloc's own failings comes as the number of enforcements against breaches of internal market rules — set up to ensure the free movement of goods, capital, services and people — tumbled between 2020 and 2022.

Failure to adhere to the rules can lead to member states adopting different standards that stymie cross-border business. As the world shifts to electric vehicles, the European auto industry is trying to keep pace in a global race in which China is a major player, said the paper.