Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor has revealed that around 74,000 jobs have been lost across the EU in the car industry since the onset of the economic crisis.
Making a statement to MEPs on 20 November 2012, he said there had been 274 cases of restructuring in the automobile sector in recent years.
Mr Andor said that although part of the problem was linked to the general European economic crisis, he added that the industry suffered from "long standing over-capacities".
Restructuring cases include the recent decision by Ford to move their production of the Transit van to Turkey from Southampton.
Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani recently published the Cars 2020 strategy, containing a series of policies to try and boost the industry.
These include investment in research and innovation, such as developing green technology.
Mr Andor said he wanted to explore "all possibilities" to help workers affected by plant closures, and announced the creation of a "social dialogue committee" made up of employers and workers.
However Belgian MEP Ivo Belet said the crisis in the industry showed that the single market "is not working" if companies were able to relocate on the basis of national markets.
"It shows the terrible lack of minimum social standards across the EU," he added.
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