The European Union is developing a new framework for vehicle circularity and end-of-life management, consolidating rules on vehicle design, recyclability and end-of-life treatment into a single regulatory structure. The measures are intended to increase material recovery, reduce exposure to imported raw materials and support the use of recycled content in new vehicles, while avoiding additional administrative burdens for manufacturers.
The initiative places the automotive sector at the centre of a wider recalibration of EU climate and industrial policy. Circularity requirements are no longer framed solely as environmental instruments, but as tools to address supply chain vulnerability, cost pressures and strategic dependence in a globally exposed industry. For legislators, the challenge lies in delivering environmental gains without undermining investment certainty or industrial competitiveness.
Alexandra Mehnert, a German Member of the European Parliament from Saxony-Anhalt and a member of the Transport and Tourism Committee, has focused on how these objectives translate into enforceable and proportionate rules. Elected in 2024, she brings to the debate both experience in political education and a regional perspective shaped by long-term economic transformation in eastern Germany.
Green Mobility Magazine spoke with Mehnert about vehicle circularity, regulatory simplification and the implications for Europe’s automotive industry.
To begin, could you briefly introduce yourself and share what drew you into politics in the first place?
My name is Alexandra Mehnert, and my hometown is Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt. Saxony-Anhalt is a region in eastern Germany, in the former German Democratic Republic, which was not democratic. I was 15 years old when the Berlin Wall fell, old enough to understand what happened, but young enough that the authoritarian regime had not been too much of an obstacle in my life so far. I know what it means to live without freedom. I think this experience made me a political person long before I became a politician. I was elected to the European Parliament in 2024. Prior to that, I worked for the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in the field of political education.
You have taken a keen interest in environmental and industrial policy. What led you to focus on these issues in the European Parliament?
I am a member of the TRAN committee, and the question of how to strengthen our industry, balanced with environmental protection, is key to much of the currently ongoing legislation. Coming from a region in East Germany, I want to ensure that environmental and industrial policy takes into account the people in the regions that have to accomplish the transformation – my region has in the past 35 years already experienced deep transformation processes.
Turning to the topic at hand, the new regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and end-of-life management is a significant piece of legislation. Why is this initiative so crucial for the EU’s automotive sector?
Due to the resources needed, our European automotive sector is highly dependent on imports from third countries. Therefore, a primary goal of end-of-life regulations is to retain resources within the EU by ensuring that recycled materials are used in the production of new vehicles. At the same time, the challenge was to find rules that take into account the difficult situation of the European automotive sector and especially avoid additional burdens.
In your view, how does merging the existing directives into a single regulation help both industry and regulators achieve greater clarity and efficiency?
I often receive feedback in my constituency in Saxony-Anhalt that EU legislation is just too complex, too divided and too difficult. Every merger of existing legislation, therefore, helps increase clarity and efficiency. More concretely, the legislation broadens the scope of the provisions, which was explicitly demanded by the industry because it simplifies production processes.
Looking at the bigger picture, how does this regulation fit into the EU’s broader climate goals and industrial strategy, particularly regarding strategic autonomy in raw materials?
This regulation is a prime example of important priorities like the EU’s strategic autonomy and environmental goals being coherent. The EU is at the forefront of environmental policies, and we also need greater awareness that dependencies of China and Russia form a substantial risk for our economies.
As a representative from Germany, why is this legislation particularly significant for your country’s automotive industry and its sustainability efforts?
Germany is a country of high innovative creativity and excellent engineering. Both are skills that are needed for the transformation of our industry. The key challenge for policymakers is to strike the right balance between incentivising innovation while not harming existing successful industry. This is the case for all EU member states, but in the case of automotive, Germany is particularly in focus due to its strong automotive industry.
Finally, what message would you like to leave with our readers about the importance of embracing these changes for the future of mobility in Europe?
Errors are costly. We cannot get this wrong, because either we risk jobs, wealth and strategic leadership, or the chance to counter climate change. I therefore urge a cautious approach. We have to take into account the realities in the different regions in the EU, particularly in regions that face painful transformations. We just need more simplification.
Mehnert’s remarks reflect a wider shift in transport and industrial policy across advanced economies, where climate and circularity objectives are increasingly being reframed through the lens of competitiveness, supply chain resilience and implementation capacity. In the automotive sector, circularity is no longer treated solely as an environmental instrument but as part of a broader response to raw material concentration, geopolitical risk and rising input costs, issues shared by most post-industrial manufacturing regions.
Within the European Union, this has translated into growing pressure to combine regulatory ambition with simplification and greater sensitivity to regional and industrial constraints, particularly in sectors exposed to global competition. The vehicle circularity framework illustrates this tension, linking environmental performance to industrial viability and strategic autonomy.
As the framework moves towards application, its effectiveness will depend less on headline targets and more on how well it delivers legal clarity, investment predictability, and workable obligations across diverse industrial structures and regions.
