REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Implementation of Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2014-10-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, combined transport, information technology, intelligent transport system, road safety, road traffic, transport infrastructure













EUR-Lex - 52014DC0642 - EN











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52014DC0642

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Implementation of Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport (Text with EEA relevance) /* COM/2014/0642 final */









Contents
1............ Introduction. 3
1.1......... Directive 2010/40/EU.. 3
1.2......... Transposition of
Directive 2010/40/EU.. 5
2............ Analysis of the
implementation of Directive 2010/40/EU.. 5
2.1......... Commission working
programme. 5
2.2......... Delegated acts on
specifications. 5
2.2.1...... Methodology. 5
2.2.2...... Priority actions. 6
2.2.3...... Other actions in the
priority areas and beyond. 8
2.3......... Proposals on deployment 8
2.3.1...... The interoperable EU-wide
eCall (priority action d) 8
2.3.2...... Other priority actions (c
and e) 9
2.4......... Standards. 9
2.5......... Non-binding measures. 10
2.5.1...... Guidelines for reporting by
the Member States. 10
2.5.2...... Urban ITS guidelines. 10
2.6......... Protection of personal
data rules. 10
2.7......... Liability. 10
2.8......... Member State reporting. 10
2.8.1...... Report on national
activities and projects regarding the priority areas. 10
2.8.2...... Information on national ITS
actions envisaged over the following five year period. 11
2.9......... European ITS Advisory Group. 12
3............ Efficiency and
appropriateness of Directive 2010/40/EU and the delegation of power 12
3.1......... Various configurations. 12
3.2......... Exercise of the
delegation. 13
3.3......... Follow-up of
specifications. 14
4............ Financial resources used and needed. 15
5............ Conclusion. 16
1.           Introduction
1.1.        Directive 2010/40/EU
Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on the framework for the deployment of
Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces
with other mode of transport[1]
(hereafter the ‘ITS Directive’ or ‘Directive 2010/40/EU’). This Directive entered
into force in August 2010, after a swift legislative process that showed the
willingness of the co-legislators to make rapid progress in this new policy
field.
The ITS Directive aims at accelerating the
coordinated deployment and use across Europe of intelligent transport systems
in road transport (and interfaces with other modes). It identifies a list of six
priority actions encompassing: 
a)  the
provision of EU-wide multimodal travel information services; 
b) the
provision of EU-wide real-time traffic information services; 
c)  data
and procedure for the provision, where possible of road safety related minimum
universal traffic information free of charge for users; 
d) the
harmonised provision for an interoperable EU-wide eCall[2]; 
e)  the
provision of information services for safe and secure parking places for trucks
and commercial vehicles; and 
f)  the
provision of reservation services for safe and secure parking places for trucks
and commercial vehicles.
It also lists priority areas in which work is
to be further pursued: optimal use of road, traffic and travel data (priority
area I); continuity of traffic and freight management ITS services (priority
area II), ITS road safety and security applications (priority area III),
linking the vehicle with the transport infrastructure (priority area IV). These
priority areas correspond to the first four priority areas of the ITS Action
Plan[3].
According to Article 6 of the ITS Directive,
specifications have to be adopted first for the six priority actions before
adopting specifications for other actions in the priority areas. The six
priority actions being part of priority areas I and III, the work on
specifications focused primarily on these two priority areas.
Directive 2010/40/EU is based on a two-step
approach: 
§ the Commission is empowered first to adopt, through delegated acts
in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU), the necessary specifications — including the functional,
technical, organisational or service provisions — to ensure compatibility,
interoperability and continuity for the deployment and operational use of ITS[4]; 
§ in a second stage, at the latest 12 months after the adoption of the
necessary specifications for a priority action, the Commission is to present a
proposal, where appropriate, to the European Parliament and the Council in
accordance with Article 294 of the TFEU, on the deployment of that priority
action. The Commission should conduct an impact assessment including a
cost-benefit analysis for any such proposal[5].
To that end, the Commission adopted a working
programme[6]
which specifies and further prioritises the work to be undertaken under the ITS
Directive (see 2.1).
To involve public authorities and private actors
in the implementation of Directive 2010/40/EU, the Commission is assisted by
the European ITS Committee, which gathers representatives from Member States
and by the European ITS Advisory Group composed of high-level representatives
of ITS stakeholders.
The tasks of the Commission also included the
adoption of guidelines for reporting by the Member States[7] and
reporting at regular intervals on the progress achieved.
In addition to the specific obligations related
to privacy, security and liability[8],
Member States must take the necessary measures to ensure that the
specifications adopted are applied to ITS applications and services when these
are deployed in their territory. They must also make efforts to
cooperate in respect of the priority areas, insofar as no specifications have
been adopted. Reporting obligations for Member States stem from Article 17 of
Directive 2010/40/EU. Their purpose is to get a better knowledge of the
different activities and intentions of Member States and to stimulate these
activities through a better recognition of the added value of ITS for transport
policies in national environments.
According to Article 17(4) of the ITS Directive,
the Commission must submit a report every three years to the European
Parliament and to the Council on the progress made in the implementation of the
Directive. It is to be accompanied by an analysis of the functioning and
implementation of Articles 5 to 11 and Article 16, including the financial
resources used and needed. The report must also assess the need to amend the Directive,
where appropriate. In addition, Article 12(1) of this Directive requires the
Commission to ‘make a report in respect of the delegated powers no later than
six months before the end of a five year period following 27 August 2010.’
This Report fulfils both above-mentioned obligations.
It is also accompanied by a Commission Staff Working Document on the progress
report and review of the ITS Action Plan and by a Commission Staff Working
Document on the analysis of the Member States reports of 2011 (on national
activities and projects regarding the priority areas) and 2012 (on national ITS
actions envisaged over the following five-year period) submitted pursuant to
Article 17 (1) and 17(2) of the ITS Directive.
1.2.        Transposition
of Directive 2010/40/EU
In accordance with Article 18 of the Directive,
Member States had until 27 February 2012 to bring into force the laws,
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive and to notify them to the Commission.
As at that date, only seven Member States had
notified their national transposition measures to the Commission. Several
Member States took more than one additional year and the last Member State to notify its final transposition measure did so on 2 January 2014. During ITS
Committee meetings, several Member States stated that this illustrated the difficulty
of transposing the Directive: the latter contains very few really specific
immediate measures to be transposed, as it constitutes a framework, allowing
the adoption of subsequent regulatory measures.
2.           Analysis of the
implementation of Directive 2010/40/EU
2.1.        Commission
working programme
As provided for by Article 17(5) of the ITS Directive
and in line with the timetable established by the Directive, the Commission
adopted a working programme, after consulting the European ITS Committee.
The working programme covers the period 2011-15,
and provides a general annual overview of the main tasks and activities to be
performed by the Commission during this period as regards implementation of the
ITS Directive. It focuses on the preparation of specifications related to the
six priority actions and the estimated dates for their adoption.
2.2.        Delegated
acts on specifications
2.2.1.     Methodology
The elaboration of the specifications was
performed in accordance with the Framework Agreement on relations between the
European Parliament and the European Commission[9] and the Common Understanding of the European Parliament, Council
and Commission on delegated acts[10].
The actions and tasks performed in preparation
of the specifications consist of the following:
-         Collection of existing inputs and
results from European studies, research projects, national implementation
projects, public consultations, existing activities in associations, inputs
from stakeholders, etc.
-         Cost-benefit analysis.
-         Gap analysis and analysis of
requirements and possible approaches, in particular through online public
consultations undertaken by the Commission to ascertain the views and positions
of citizens, stakeholders and Member States.
-         Consultations with Member States
experts and the European Data Protection Supervisor on draft specifications. The
European Parliament and the Council received all relevant documents during the
preparation of delegated acts and Parliament's experts were invited to the
expert meetings.
-         Opinion of the European ITS Advisory
Group on draft specifications.
This preparatory work benefited also greatly from
various actions, studies, workshops etc. related to the implementation of the
ITS Action Plan (see Commission Staff Working Document on Progress Report and
review of the ITS Action Plan).
2.2.2.     Priority
actions
The six priority actions for the development
and use of specifications and standards are defined in Article 3 of the ITS
Directive and its Annex I.
In accordance with Article 6(2) of the ITS Directive,
the Commission had to adopt specifications for one or more of the priority
actions by 27 February 2013. In addition, the Commission working programme set
the following dates for the adoption of specifications for the first six
priority actions:
(a)         
the provision of EU-wide multimodal travel
information services: Q4 2014;
(b)         
the provision of EU-wide real-time traffic
information services: Q4 2013;
(c)         
data and procedures for the provision, where
possible, of road safety related minimum universal traffic information free of
charge to users: Q4 2012;
(d)        
the harmonised provision for an interoperable
EU-wide eCall: Q4 2012;
(e)         
the provision of information services for safe
and secure parking places for trucks and commercial vehicles: Q4 2012;
(f)          
the provision of reservation services for safe
and secure parking places for trucks and commercial vehicles: Q4 2013.
Adopted specifications
The Commission met the deadline of 27 February
2013 by adopting a first set of specifications, on 26 November 2012, for priority
action (d), through Delegated Regulation (EU) No 305/2013 on the
harmonised provision for an interoperable EU-wide eCall[11]. This
Delegated Regulation establishes the specifications, based on standards, for
the upgrading of the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) infrastructure
required for the proper receipt and handling of eCalls in order to ensure the
compatibility, interoperability and continuity of the harmonised, EU-wide eCall
service.
Regarding priority action (c), on 15 May 2013, the
Commission adopted Delegated Regulation (EU) No 886/2013 with regard to data
and procedures for the provision, where possible, of road safety-related
minimum universal traffic information free of charge to users[12]. It
establishes the specifications necessary to ensure compatibility,
interoperability and continuity for the deployment and operational use of the
relevant data and procedures for a defined set of road safety incidents. The
Delegated Regulation addresses both public and private stakeholders and
provides for sharing safety-related data at no extra cost to end users through
a national access point in a common standardised format (DATEX[13]),
therefore contributing to interoperability and predictability for any potential
users of such data. Nevertheless, it was not possible to specify detailed
quality requirements in the timeframe of the elaboration of these
specifications: a task force, involving public and private stakeholders, has therefore
been established to look into quality criteria, and monitoring and assessment
methods.
Regarding priority action (e), on 15 May 2013, the
Commission adopted Delegated Regulation (EU) No 885/2013 with regard to the
provision of information services for safe and secure parking places for trucks
and commercial vehicles[14].
It establishes the specifications necessary to ensure compatibility,
interoperability and continuity for the deployment and operational use of
information services. The Delegated Regulation addresses both public and
private stakeholders and defines the necessary elements to provide information
services in a harmonised manner, including some advanced features on dynamic
information. Just as for priority action (c), quality requirements are minimal.
These three sets of specifications were
prepared in close cooperation with Member States in dedicated expert meetings[15] to
which the European Parliament and the European Data Protection Supervisor were
invited, and after stakeholder consultations, in particular through online
public consultations and workshops.
Ongoing work on the remaining priority
actions
In preparation of the work on specifications
for priority action (a) on EU-wide multimodal travel information services,
several initiatives have already been launched (1st Smart Mobility
Challenge[16],
studies, workshops and public consultations[17]).
The objective is to have these specifications adopted in 2015. In parallel, the
Commission initiated a discussion[18]
on a possible initiative on access to multimodal transport data in order
to address the challenge to make transport data accessible, covering all modes
of transport and mobility services. This reflection led in a first stage to the
Commission Staff Working Document ‘Roadmap towards delivering EU-wide
multimodal travel information, planning and ticketing services’ in June 2014[19]. This
will possibly lead to a legal proposal on access to multimodal travel and
traffic data, depending on the outcome of an impact assessment to be finalised in
the course of 2014.
For priority action (b) on EU-wide real-time
traffic information services, the Commission has already organised several
workshops and expert meetings in preparation of the specifications. The
objective is to have these specifications adopted by the end of 2014. This
delay compared with the initially estimated timetable is partly explained by the
very broad scope of these specifications as specified in Annex I to the ITS Directive,
and by the need to build a shared understanding with Member States on the scope
of the specifications. They will focus on the enabling conditions for EU-wide real-time
traffic information services and are therefore much more related to the back
office than to the services themselves.
Regarding specifications for priority action (f)
on the provision of reservation services for safe and secure parking places for
trucks and commercial vehicles, the Commission conducted several consultations
with Member State experts and the main stakeholders. The discussions highlighted
that there is a low number of parking areas that could offer reservation
services in 2014 (representing only 2% of parking places), and that there was,
therefore, currently no need for specifications and standards on reservation of
parking areas. However, further developments will be monitored and, if appropriate,
the issue reconsidered in this perspective. Should standardisation activities
be needed, they might be considered in the broader context of the forthcoming e-Freight
initiative.
2.2.3.     Other actions in the priority areas and beyond
As required under Article 6 of the ITS
Directive, the Commission has to adopt specifications for other actions in
priority areas, listed in Annex I to the ITS Directive, once the necessary
specifications for the priority actions have been adopted. As explained in the
Commission Staff Working Document on Progress Report and review of the ITS
Action Plan, work has started on cooperative systems, based on research
projects and many consultations of stakeholders including the European ITS
Committee and the European ITS Advisory Group. The aim is to evaluate obstacles
and enabling conditions and identify how the Commission can foster the
deployment of such systems in the Union. Furthermore, preparatory studies have
been carried with the aim to promote open access for ITS services (open
in-vehicle platform). In addition, there are indications that new possible domains
for specifications (e.g. crowd-sourcing for transport data, automated driving) could
be further explored with the aim to further enhance the practical use of intelligent
transport systems.
2.3.        Proposals on deployment
2.3.1.     The
interoperable EU-wide eCall (priority action d)
In addition to the recommendation to Member
States targeting mobile network operators to support the transmission of the
eCalls[20] and the specifications[21] containing requirements for the upgrade of the public safety
answering point infrastructure the Commission adopted on 13 May 2013 two legislative
proposals: one for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on
the deployment of the interoperable EU-wide eCall[22]; the second for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the
Council concerning type-approval requirements for the deployment of the eCall
in-vehicle system[23].
The proposal for a Decision was adopted by the
co-legislators on 25 May 2014 and subsequently published in the Official
Journal[24]. In accordance with its provisions, public safety answering points are
to be made operational across the Union at the latest 6 months before the date
of application of the type-approval requirements for the eCall in-vehicle
system and in any case no later than 1 October 2017. This Decision makes
explicit the right of each Member State to organise its emergency services in
the most cost-effective way and appropriate to its needs.
The legislative process in relation to the type-approval
proposal regarding the eCall in-vehicle system is still ongoing.
2.3.2.     Other
priority actions (c and e)
Some Member States have been very active
recently in the deployment of services related to priority actions (c) on road
safety-related information and (e) on information services on safe and secure
parking places for trucks. However, in times of scarce financial resources, it
seemed more reasonable, before setting any general deployment obligation, to
first support developments that have followed the adoption of the
specifications, through monitoring and exchange of best implementation practices
among Member States, as well as through the latest trans-European transport
networks (TEN-T) call for proposals and the upcoming Connecting Europe Facility
calls. After learning from these first efforts and building on best practices,
the need for proposals of legislative acts on mandatory deployment will then be
assessed at a later stage.
2.4.        Standards
Several standardisation activities related to
the priority areas have been ongoing or completed since the adoption of the ITS
Directive.
The eCall standards referred to in Delegated
Regulation (EU) No 305/2013 have been adopted. Under the European Committee for
Standardisation, CEN/TS 16454 on eCall end to end conformance testing is
expected to become a full CEN standard before the end of 2014. A minor revision
of these standards in order to integrate the outcome of the HeERO pilot
projects[25]
will also be finalised, most probably before the end of 2014.
The implementation of standardisation mandate
M/453 on cooperative systems is well advanced. Both CEN (TC 278 WG16) and the
European Telecommunications Standards Institute ETSI (TC ITS), but also other
standardisation organisations, have provided standards relevant for cooperative
ITS, falling within the scope of mandate M/453. Evaluation of the application
of existing standards is an ongoing activity in the standardisation process in
the relevant technical committees and working groups of CEN, ISO, SAE, IEEE and
ETSI[26].
The ITS standardisation work is also benefitting from the international
cooperation of the European Union with the United States of America and other
partners working on global harmonisation of ITS standards. This cooperation
accelerates standards definition and leads to quicker ITS deployment.
Additional standardisation needs falling within
the scope of the ITS Directive have been identified. These include
implementation of eCall in vehicles of categories other than M1 and N1; guidelines
on certification of (aftermarket) eCall systems; completion of mandate M/453; open
in-vehicle platform architecture; integration of accurate (public) road data in
digital maps; safe integration and operation of nomadic devices; and urban ITS.
These have all been added to the 2013 Commission Rolling plan for ICT
standardisation[27]
in view of possible future standardisation mandates.
2.5.        Non-binding measures
2.5.1.     Guidelines
for reporting by the Member States
As required under Article 17 of the ITS
Directive, the Commission adopted on 13 July 2011 guidelines for reporting by
Member States under Directive 2010/40/EU[28].
2.5.2.     Urban
ITS guidelines
These Guidelines have been prepared under the
ITS Action Plan (see Commission Staff Working Document on the progress report
and review of the ITS Action Plan). They have raised awareness about urban ITS features
and provided input for the Commission Staff Working Document on Mobilising Intelligent Transport Systems for EU cities[29] which was part of the Urban Mobility Package adopted on 17 December
2013[30].
2.6.        Protection of personal data rules
Relevant provisions related to protection of
personal data, security and re-use of information rules have been included in
all adopted specifications. These build on a preparatory study[31] commissioned in the framework of the ITS Action Plan[32] and are in accordance with Article 10 of the ITS Directive. The
European Data Protection Supervisor has been systematically invited to Member State expert meetings in preparation of the specifications and his opinions on the
final drafts of the specifications have been duly taken into account. This will
also be the case for all future specifications and proposals.
2.7.        Liability
Relevant provisions related to liability rules
have been included in all adopted specifications. For these, input was gained
from a preparatory study[33] within the framework of the ITS Action Plan, and they are in
accordance with Article 11 of the ITS Directive. This will also be the case for
all future specifications and proposals.
2.8.        Member State reporting
2.8.1.     Report
on national activities and projects regarding the priority areas
In accordance with Article 17(1) of the ITS Directive,
Member States were required to submit to the Commission by 27 August 2011 a
report on their national activities and projects regarding the priority areas
listed in Article 2 of this Directive.
These reports provided a first overview, for the
four priority areas of the ITS Directive, on ITS implementation all across the Union.
These 2011 reports are analysed in the
Commission Staff Working Document ‘Analysis of Member States reports’
accompanying this Report.
In accordance with Article 17(3) of the ITS
Directive, Member States are to report by 27 August 2014 on the progress made
since 2011 report.
2.8.2.     Information
on national ITS actions envisaged over the following five year period
In accordance with Article 17(2) of the ITS Directive,
Member States were required to provide the Commission by 27 August 2012 with information
on national ITS actions envisaged over the following five-year period.
These 2012 reports are analysed in the Commission
Staff Working Document ‘Analysis of Member States reports’ accompanying this
Report.
For the first time since the adoption of
Directive 2010/40/EU, these reports describe the intentions of Member States
with regard to the deployment of ITS on their territory in the coming five
years. They demonstrate a strong interest and willingness on the part of Member
States to foster ITS deployment throughout Europe to support service continuity
and smarter mobility, and in particular a clear trend towards further
engagement in information services.
As already demonstrated in the 2011 national
reports, Member States have invested and have informed that they will continue
to invest into priority areas I ‘Optimal use of road, traffic and travel data’
and priority area II ‘Continuity of traffic and freight management ITS services’
(further information in the Commission Staff Working Document ‘Analysis of
Member States reports’)[34]
. Therefore, specifications in these areas certainly help to ensure
interoperability and continuity of the already deployed and future services,
and special attention should be devoted to compatibility with existing applications.
Activities related to priority area III ‘ITS
road safety and security applications’ seem to be more limited and notably focused
on some specific actions (e.g. eCall, information services for safe and secure
truck parking) which benefit now from adopted specifications.
Although the potential of priority area IV ‘Linking
the vehicle with the transport infrastructure’ to contribute to enhancing road
safety and reducing traffic congestion is acknowledged by Member States, activities
are still in the research/testing/piloting phase. Several Member States have
specific plans for pilot projects, but many stakeholders seem still to be in a
waiting mode, with still a needed emergence of clear business models for the
large-scale deployment of cooperative ITS services and a needed minimal
penetration rate of equipped vehicle or infrastructure coverage. A coordination
of all involved stakeholders going beyond the mere adoption of specifications
or the financial support of pilot projects seems to be needed in order to
overcome this situation.
2.9.        European ITS Advisory
Group
Pursuant to Article 16 of the Directive, the
Commission had to establish a European ITS Advisory Group to advise it on
business and technical aspects of the deployment and use of ITS in the Union.
The group is to be composed of high level representatives from relevant ITS
service providers, associations of users, transport and facilities operators,
manufacturing industry, social partners, professional associations, local
authorities and other relevant fora, 
The European ITS Advisory Group was set up by a
Commission Decision on 4 May 2011[35]
and its members appointed on 27 January 2012, after an open call for
applications[36].
The first meeting was held on 23 March 2012,
and the second meeting on 26 February 2013. These meetings were the occasions
for discussions with stakeholders on current ITS issues, in particular on
strategies regarding enabling conditions for real-time traffic information
services, access to transport data and the deployment of cooperative systems. They
helped also to share with the stakeholders a common vision on the deployment of
cooperative systems, with notably a proposed platform to involve all stakeholders
and federate all initiatives, in order to avoid a fragmented patchwork and
ensure interoperability of services, systems and technologies.
The Commission has systematically asked members
of the European ITS Advisory Group for their written opinions on the business
and technical aspects of the draft specifications, and they provided valuable
comments for their finalisation.
Main outcome of these meetings have been made
available to the European ITS Committee, as requested by the ITS Directive.
3.           Efficiency
and appropriateness of Directive 2010/40/EU and the delegation of power
3.1.        Various
configurations
The ITS Directive provides a framework for the
rapid adoption of specifications, through delegated acts adopted by the
Commission. This approach facilitated a rather smooth adoption of
specifications for the first three priority actions on road safety-related
information services (c), on eCall (d) and on information services for truck
parking places (e).
Nevertheless, the context in which these
specifications were adopted varies strongly from one action to the other,
depending notably on the advancement of EU and national actions and public or
private initiatives in these domains.
For eCall, the principles of the initiative
were already defined in the Commission Communication ‘eCall: Time for
Deployment’,[37]
and a Recommendation[38]
to Member States targeting mobile network operators had already been issued. In
addition, standards already existed at the moment the first draft of
specifications was proposed for discussion with Member States experts.
Pre-deployment pilot projects, based on these standards, had also been
launched. The ITS Directive has therefore served to complement the approach and
the ongoing initiatives, filling the gap in as far as emergency call centres —
otherwise known as public safety answering points – were concerned.
The situation was very different for road
safety-related minimum information and information services for truck parking
places. There were no dedicated standards on which to base the specifications,
although DATEX II, TPEG and RDS TMC[39]
standards did serve as a reference for some aspects. Moreover, diverse services
were already operating in Member States. This general situation raised additional
questions regarding the conditions of application of the upcoming
specifications to already existing services. Given the relatively narrow scope
of these two actions, it was nevertheless possible to adopt specifications in a
relatively short time, including the necessary targeted consultation of
stakeholders.
This challenge is proving to be greater for the
two remaining priority actions: for the provision of EU-wide multimodal travel
information services (a); and for the provision of EU-wide real-time traffic
information services (b). This in particular because of their larger scope and
the number of stakeholders involved. The same applies to other actions for
which a more comprehensive approach, beyond the mere adoption of
specifications, may be needed.
3.2.        Exercise
of the delegation
Political endorsement by Member States
The eCall case provided some lessons regarding
the nuances that may exist between the work developed in the context of the
specifications with national experts and the political control by the Council once
the specifications have been adopted by the Commission. Although there was
almost unanimous support for the content of the eCall specifications at expert
level, in the Council seven Member States voted in favour of an objection,
however in the absence of a qualified majority, the Council did not object. The
reasons presented by some of these seven Member States might not necessarily have
been related to the specifications in the strictest sense, but to the eCall
initiative as a whole, especially the funding linked to the future mandatory
deployment of the service, or issues related to the in-vehicle part of the
eCall initiative.
Questioning the scope of the delegation of
power
In line with article 290 of the TFEU, the ITS
Directive empowers the Commission to adopt non-legislative acts of general
application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the
legislative act.
Two Member States questioned in writing the
validity of the delegation of power to oblige Member States to upgrade existing
services in order to meet the requirements of specifications adopted under the
ITS Directive. They considered that such an obligation contradicted the right
of each Member State to decide on its own deployment as stated in Article 5(1)
of the ITS Directive. On 18 December 2013, one Member State referred the two
delegated Regulations (EU) N° 885/2013 (truck parking information services) and
(EU) N° 886/2013 (road safety-related minimum universal traffic information
services) to the General Court of the European Union. It asked for annulment of
these two delegated regulations arguing that they exceed the limits of the
delegation of powers under Directive 2010/40/EU and therefore infringe upon Article
290 of TFEU.
Insufficiency of the vertical approach
The ITS Directive identifies six priority
actions for which specifications are to be adopted. Whereas the first three
adopted specifications concern relatively different and distinct domains, the
remaining priority actions contain common issues, e.g. common types of data to
be specified, common issues regarding access to and availability of data, and data
protection and liability. The vertical approach stemming from the ITS Directive
may then be complemented by more horizontal approaches on some of these
cross-cutting issues. This might be the case in relation to multimodal travel
and real-time traffic information services or for horizontal measures on
privacy and data protection.
As already mentioned above, for some of the
other actions (e.g. cooperative systems), a more comprehensive approach may be
needed in order to address the various issues (funding, standardisation, greater
coordination of stakeholders, governance linked to deployment etc.) that go
beyond the scope of possible specifications.
Expiration date of the delegation
The power to adopt delegated acts has been
conferred on the Commission until 27 August 2017. While this has been and still
is an efficient and flexible instrument for the finalisation of the adoption of
specifications for all six priority actions, the necessity to adopt
specifications for the other actions listed in Annex I of the ITS Directive) would
call for an extension of this deadline.
3.3.        Follow-up of specifications
For eCall, the HeERO[40] pilot
projects and the European eCall Implementation Platform[41]
provided frameworks for exchanges on the implementation of the eCall Delegated
Regulation. For the other adopted specifications, the need arose to better
structure the follow-up in Member States of the implementation of
specifications for road safety-related information services (c) and information
on parking places for trucks (e).
Therefore, the Commission convened meetings
with Member State experts in October 2013 and January 2014. It intends to
continue and develop this dialogue, in particular through a specific collaborative
platform (wik-ITS) in order to support a common interpretation of the
specifications and the exchange of best practices, and to share frequently
asked questions.
Assistance to the implementation of the
specifications will also be provided through funding under the Connecting
Europe Facility and Horizon 2020 and by ongoing stakeholders
initiatives/platforms such as the European eCall Implementation Platform, the
iMobility Forum Working Group on SafeApps, TISA guidelines on mapping of safety
events into DATEX/TPEG/RDS standards, the European ITS Platform (project funded
under TEN-T Call 2012) on DATEX node/national access point and quality of SRTI
etc[42].
These follow-up measures will also help to assess
the need to launch possible proposals for deployment in the near future.
4.           Financial resources used and needed
The adopted specifications are still quite
recent, therefore the financial resources used and needed are based on an
estimation of the necessary upgrade of existing services and of their likely
deployment in the Member States.
The HeERO I and II pre-deployment pilot projects
for eCall have received investments totalling €9.4m and €4.3m (of which €4.7m
and €2.1m is European Union funding) under the Competitiveness and Innovation
Programme (CIP), the scope of which was wider than purely implementing the specifications.
Additional funding will be needed to upgrade the public safety answering point infrastructures
in all Member States, as estimated in Annex XIV of the eCall impact assessment[43].
Regarding priority action (c), the collection
of additional data necessary for the provision of the road-safety related
traffic information service requires initial investments (e.g. for sensors,
CCTV, weather stations, 112 reports or user reports, private providers /
floating car data) and will generate subsequent costs for maintenance,
operation and replacement. Depending on various parameters (e.g. length of the
network equipped, density and type of equipment, data collection method and
technology, pre-existing equipment and data), the costs of additional data
collection can vary greatly across Member States, even by a factor of 10
between low and high costs estimates. It is estimated that operating the
information service will cost an average of €1.4m annually for a Member State having no service at all today.[44]
Regarding priority action (e), € 4 m
a year are the estimated EU-wide costs that will be incurred by truck parking-area
operators and public authorities for the EU-wide implementation of the common
specifications (provision of static data, implementation, management of a
static database and costs for haulers). Dynamic information will most probably
be deployed in a limited number of priority zones (each zone comprising an
average of 10 parking areas), the costs per priority zone being estimated at
around €2m for initial investment and €0.2m annual operating, maintenance and
depreciation costs.[45]
The last TEN-T call for proposals launched in
December 2013 offered the opportunity to support projects falling within the
scope of the ITS Directive. Of particular interest are deployment projects of
ITS core services along European corridors, and studies including real life
trials and pre-deployment preparations, e.g. for cooperative systems and upgrades
of eCall public safety answering points. The same opportunity will arise from
the upcoming Connecting Europe Facility calls starting in 2014.
Standardisation activities have been supported
under the EU budget, representing to date an amount of €165 000 for eCall and €1.338m
for cooperative systems under the M/453 standardisation mandate. The preparation
and maintenance of the DATEX specifications benefited from various funding
sources (study, grant, projects under the TEN-T programmes) for an estimated total
amount of €1.4m.
Additional financial resources, still to be
estimated, will be needed for the other standardisation items listed in the rolling
plan for ICT standardisation.
5.           Conclusion
So far, the ITS Directive has been an efficient
tool for the rapid adoption of common specifications for the first three
priority actions.
The work on the specifications for the
remaining two priority actions (EU-wide real-time traffic information and EU-wide
multimodal travel information services) will be dealt with before the end of
the working programme in 2015. Regarding reservation services for safe and
secure parking places for trucks and commercial vehicles, no further action in
the near future is needed.
Taking into account the emergence of new long-term
trends also mentioned in the Commission Staff Working Document on the progress
report and review of the ITS Action Plan (e.g. use of crowd-sourcing for
transport data, partly automated driving, deployment of cooperative systems)
and the possible necessity to set up new priorities beyond the six currently
defined priority actions and four priority areas, over and above the important
elements listed in Annex I to the ITS Directive, it seems necessary as a first
step to prioritise the remaining actions to be addressed in the current scope
of the ITS Directive and ITS Action Plan. In a second phase, it will be
necessary to reflect on, and start preparing work for a possible revision of
the ITS Directive and of the supporting ITS Action Plan, taking into account
the constant technical evolution of ITS and building also on the conclusions of
the Commission Staff Working Document on the progress report and review of the
ITS Action Plan.
[1] OJ L 207 of 6.8.2010, p. 1.
[2] http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/road/action_plan/ecall_en.htm
[3] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52008DC0886:EN:NOT

[4] Article 3 of the ITS Directive 
[5]               Article 6 of the ITS Directive
[6]               The working programme on the implementation of
Directive 2010/40/EU was adopted by the Commission on 15 February 2011 (C(2011)
289 final) http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/road/action_plan/doc/c_2011_0289_en.pdf
[7]               Commission Implementing Decision of 13 July 2011
adopting guidelines for reporting by the Member States under Directive
2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ L 193, 23.7.2011, p. 48
[8]               See articles 10 and 11 of the ITS Directive
[9]               OJ L 304, 20.11.2010, p. 47.
[10]             http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/sefcovic/documents/common_understating_on_delegated_acts.pdf
[11]             OJ L 91, 3.4.2013, p. 1
[12]             OJ L 247, 18.9.2013, p. 6
[13]             DATEX: European Technical Specification for modelling
and exchanging ITS-related information
[14]             OJ L 247, 18.9.2013, p. 1
[15]             http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=1941
[16]             1st Smart Mobility Challenge : http://ec.europa.eu/transport/its/multimodal-planners/index_en.htm
[17]             http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/road/action_plan/promotion_multimodal_planners_en.htm
[18]             http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/events/2013-11-15-towards-eu-wide-multimodal-travel-planning_en.htm
[19]             SWD(2014) 194 final
[20]             C(2011) 6269 final
[21]             Delegated Regulation (EU) No 305/2013
[22]             COM(2013)315 final
[23]             COM(2013)316 final
[24]             OJ L 164, 3.6.2014, p. 6
[25]             For more information about the HeERO projects www.heero-pilot.eu
[26]             CEN: European Committee for Standardization; ISO: International
Organization for Standardization
SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers; IEEE: Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers;
ETSI: European Telecommunications Standards Institute
[27]             http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/standards/work-programme/index_en.htm
[28]             OJ L 193, 23.7.2011, p. 48
[29]             http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/doc/ump/swd(2013)527-communication.pdf
[30]             http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-1255_en.htm
[31]             http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/studies/its_en.htm

[32]             http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52008DC0886:EN:NOT

[33]             http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/studies/its_en.htm
[34]             SWD(2014) 319
[35]             http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32011D0505(01):EN:NOT 
[36]             http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/road/action_plan/call_application_eiag_en.htm
                List
of members and summary records of the meetings are available on the Register of
Commission Expert Groups. http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=2736
[37]             COM(2009) 434 final
[38]             Commission Recommendation 2011/750/EU of 8 September
2011on support for an EU-wide eCall service in electronic communication
networks for the transmission of in- vehicle emergency calls based on 112
(‘eCalls’) - OJ L 303, 22.11.2011, p. 46.
[39]             TPEG: Transport Protocol Experts Group specifications
offering a method for transmitting multimodal traffic and travel information; RDS:
Radio Data System; TMC: Traffic Message Channel 
[40]             http://www.heero-pilot.eu
[41]             http://www.imobilitysupport.eu/imobility-forum/governance-structure/european-ecall-implementation-platform-eeip
[42]             TISA: Traveller Information Services Association; SRTI:
road safety related minimum universal traffic information.
[43]             http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/impact/ia_carried_out/docs/ia_2011/sec_2011_1019_en.pdf
[44]             More information on costs in the study on Priority
Action Action C - Free Road Safety Traffic Information - Final Report http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/studies/its_en.htm
[45]             More information on costs in the study on Priority
Actions E and F - Information and Reservation Services for Safe and Secure
Parking Places for Trucks and Commercial Vehicles - Final Report http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/studies/its_en.htm