Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2008)887 - Framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other transport modes

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dossier COM(2008)887 - Framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other ...
source COM(2008)887 EN
date 16-12-2008
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

- Grounds for and objectives of the proposal

The Mid-term review of the European Commission's White Paper on Transport Policy suggests that innovation will play a significant part in making road transport more sustainable (i.e. safe, efficient, clean and seamless), in particular by applying information and communication technologies: Intelligent Transport Systems.

However, take-up of ITS solutions in road transport has been slower than expected and, in general, services are being deployed on a fragmented basis. This has led to a patchwork of national, regional and local solutions without clear harmonisation, endangering the integrity of the single market. As a consequence, inefficient use is being made of ITS which cannot therefore contribute effectively achieving (transport) policy objectives and mastering the increasing challenges facing road transport.

The general objective of this proposal is to establish a framework to accelerate and coordinate the deployment and use of Intelligent Transport Systems applied to road transport, including the interfaces with other transport modes (ITS) in order to support a more efficient and environmentally friendly, safer and more secure freight and passenger mobility in the European Union. Specific objectives include increasing system interoperability, ensuring seamless access, fostering continuity of services and setting up an efficient co-operation mechanism between all ITS stakeholders. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the use of a (framework) directive is considered to be the most appropriate form to achieve the intended purpose. The technical details for the implementation, i.e. procedures and specifications, however, will be adopted by the Commission assisted by a Committee composed of Member States representatives. Without prejudice to the role of this Committee the Commission shall establish a European ITS Advisory Group to which representatives of relevant ITS stakeholders shall be invited and which will advise the Commission on business and technical aspects of the implementation and deployment of ITS in the EU.

- General context

The increasing congestion on our transport system (freight road transport is expected to increase by 55% and passenger road transport by 36 % by 2020) and the related energy consumption and negative environmental impacts (CO2 emissions from transport will grow a further 15% by 2020) call for an innovative approach to respond to the growing needs and requirements for transportation and mobility. Traditional measures such as the expansion of the existing transport networks will not be feasible to this extent and new solutions need to be found.

In the past the Commission has given substantial support to ITS for road-related research and development work and first application of research results was done through the 'Euro-regional' ITS deployment projects financed as part of the Trans-European Transport Network Programme.

One of the key proposals under i2010 is the Intelligent Car Initiative which aims to reduce road accidents, congestion and gridlock, and to lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions: Electronic Stability Control (ESC) reduces accidents by helping drivers control their car when it skids, e-call aims to employ a hardware black box installed in vehicles that will wirelessly send airbag deployment and impact sensor information as well as localisation coordinates to local emergency agencies.

- Existing provisions in the area of the proposal

The present proposal focuses on ITS applications and services connected with road transport, including their interfaces with other transport modes. Similar initiatives focussing on other transport modes include the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) for air transport, the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) for rail transport and the River Information Services (RIS) for inland waterway transport. Shipping has already introduced SafeSeaNet and Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Information Systems (VTMIS) and is progressing towards an Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Long-Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT).

A number of provisions also exist in road transport, notably Directive 2004/52/EC on electronic toll collection, Regulation (EEC) 3821/85 on recording equipment in road transport and Directive 2007/46/EC on a framework for the approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles. A clear coherence with the work of the relevant committees will be ensured .

- Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union

The proposal will support several of the (microeconomic) objectives of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs. Foremost it will contribute to the objective of facilitating the spread and effective use of ITS. It will further contribute to the objectives of:

- facilitating all forms of innovation: cross-border knowledge transfer on ITS effective deployment

- expanding, improving and linking up European infrastructure and completing priority cross border projects: considering the case for appropriate infrastructure pricing systems

- encouraging the sustainable use of resources and strengthening the synergies between environmental protection and growth, especially promoting the development of means to internalise external costs

- increasing and improving investment in R&D, in particular by private business: better framework conditions for the exploitation of innovative ITS solutions.

In the revision of the White Paper on Transport Policy of 2006, the Commission highlighted traffic congestion, energy security and climate change as the major challenges for transport in the European Union. New policy guidelines on efficiency, innovation, logistics and the greening of transport emerged from this revision and are fully in line with the core of the Lisbon Strategy .

The Communication on Greening Transport , adopted by the Commission in July 2008 (COM 2008(433) provides in Chapter 4 for an Action Plan on ITS for Road , accompagnied by a legislative initiative setting out a common approach to getting existing technologies onto the market and in use. In addition, using existing infrastructure more efficiently will mean that less new infrastructure will be needed, avoiding habitat fragmentation and soil sealing.

This proposal also fits in with the EU Sustainable Development Strategy as it addresses several of the key issues identified in the 2005 review process as needing a stronger impetus. The key link between them is the aim to make transport more sustainable, e.g. to meet the objective of improving transport demand management and helping to meet the road safety objective of halving the number of road deaths by 2010 (compared to 2000). Further issues that will be addressed indirectly are reducing EU energy consumption, thus also limiting climate change effects.

Furthermore the proposal supports the implementation of Regulation (EC) 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations (navigation systems).

3.

2. CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT


- Consultation of interested parties

Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondents

Thirteen interviews with high-level experts and personalities from private and public stakeholder organisations were organised between November 2007 and the end of January 2008. These interviews led to an initial inventory of observations on factors impeding wider ITS deployment and market penetration. Potential actions that could be undertaken to achieve a faster uptake of ITS were addressed as well.

To discuss and consolidate these findings, two public workshops were held (22 February 2008 and 26 March 2008) with a total of more than 200 participants. These were complemented by an eSafety Forum session (Ljubljana, 25 April 2008).

An open consultation was conducted over the internet from 29/02/2008 to 31/03/2008. The results are available on ec.europa.eu/transport/road/consultations/its_en.

Finally, Member States' delegates discussed the rationale behind specific proposed actions at a meeting in Brussels on 26 May 2008.

4.

Summary of responses and how they have been taken into account


The interviews led to the following main conclusions:

- Market penetration: ITS deployment needs to be accelerated especially in the fields of urban and freight transport. This deployment should be policy-driven and aim at reaching a higher utilisation of the existing infrastructure capacity whilst increasing the efficiency and safety of transport operations.

- Implementation requirements: interoperability of applications and services needs to be agreed at Europe-wide level to enable seamless services across borders. This includes the harmonisation, and wherever appropriate, the standardisation of rules and procedures for data collection and processing.

- Deployment strategy: the wide deployment and integration of in-car services (e.g. speed alert, eCall, real-time traffic information) requires an overall strategy and concerted actions supported by leading stakeholders from industry, road authorities and network operators alike.

- Stakeholder coordination: a cross-sector coordination group involving all major players - application developers, industry and public authorities - is required in order to progress from intentions into effective realisations.

These conclusions were endorsed, and at parts extended, by the outcome of the workshops as follows:

- Implementation strategy: this should take the form of a detailed roadmap indicating clearly the actions envisaged and the responsibilities of the different players - Commission, public authorities, industry, etc. Wherever relevant, the actions should be backed by an appropriate legal basis. On specific applications and services the following aspects were deemed relevant:

- Human Machine Interaction (HMI): there is a need for standardised platforms and interfaces due to the safety implications

- Vehicle safety systems: co-operative systems (where vehicles and infrastructure interact via mobile communications) require synchronised deployment in the vehicle and on the infrastructure

- eCall : should not be introduced as a stand alone application

- Electronic payment: nation-wide and cross-border enforcement of electronic toll collection is deemed important to ensure that all commercial transport users are charged in a fair and equitable manner

- Traffic management: the complexity of road traffic management operations, encompassing both public and private means of road transport and their interfaces with other transport modes, call for new, more holistic, system-based traffic management and control approaches. A wide platform for the exchange of information between the relevant parties - network and service operators, road authorities, regional/local authorities - is deemed crucial to the fulfilment of such an ambitious goal.

- Roadmap concertation and coordination: whilst there is a clear need for an EU coordination structure, this should not overlap with existing similar bodies, such as the eSafety Forum, ERTICO etc.

- Business cases: the development of business cases for well identifying cooperation between private and public sectors in regard to ITS applications and services is considered to be a priority.

All these elements and contributions were duly considered in the actions that follow (cf the ITS Action Plan).

- Collection and use of expertise

Scientific/expertise domains concerned

Intelligent Transport Systems

Methodology used

Stakeholder interviews and workshops; meetings with experts from the Member States; a Preparatory Study for an Impact Assessment on the EC ITS Action Plan

Main organisations/experts consulted

Senior consultants from COWI-ECORYS and from Ankerbold Consulting were used respectively for the Preparatory study for an Impact Assessment and for conducting interviews with the stakeholders.

Thirteen interviews were organised between November 2007 and January 2008 with high-level experts and personalities from the following stakeholder communities: national ministries of transport, government-owned development and deployment agencies for ITS, city authority, membership-based international organisation bringing partners together to develop ITS-based services, toll motorway operators, ITS-based information service provider, membership-based organisation representing the heavy road transport industry, representatives of the Directors of the National Road Authorities, mobile telecommunications operator, a supplier of electronic components to the automotive industry and automobile and truck industry.

To consolidate the findings of these interviews, two workshops were held, one on 22 February and one on 26 March 2008 with more than 200 participants in total. This was complemented by a dedicated eSafety Forum i meeting in Ljubljana on 25 April 2008.

Finally Member States delegates discussed the rationale behind specific actions presented at a meeting in Brussels on 26 May 2008.

5.

Summary of advice received and used


A faster and more coordinated deployment of ITS for road in Europe requires the establishment of a broad coordination structure, and a formal forum involving all stakeholders where public authorities and commercial actors can meet to discuss consensus-building activities to foster public-private collaboration. Where suitable platforms have not yet been developed, the organisation of 'round tables' to gain consensus is recommended. Some form of ITS governance structure is needed, with a hierarchy of panels for consensus-building and coordination of ITS deployment at the local/regional, national and European levels.

6.

Means used to make the expert advice publicly available


A summary of the results of the first round stakeholder's consultation is available on the internet:

ec.europa.eu/transport/road/consultations/its_en.

- Impact assessment

The impact analysis considers three policy options:

7.

Option A: No additional new action


This option takes into account on-going Commission actions, e.g. specific research, Intelligent Car Initiative (research, technical harmonisation and awareness), support to deployment (EasyWay, CIVITAS), isolated standardisation and consultation of stakeholders. The Commission's services will continue financial support for research and deployment, voluntary agreements, specific standardisation mandates and (limited) regulative work – but, there is little coordination between the public and private sector and between Member States.

Continuing with this approach will ultimately result into the continuation of the current fragmentation of ITS applications and services across borders, leading to unbalanced deployment and a lack of continuity of ITS services throughout the Union.

8.

Option B: Overcoming problems by concentrating on co-ordination and synergy measures


Option B will focus on the following main priority actions:

9.

1. definition of a functional open in-vehicle platform allowing the multiple use of key components (communication technologies, positioning, processing power and Human Machine Interface)


10.

2. setting up of a High Level Group as a forum for ITS stakeholders to exchange information, establish a general vision and producing guidelines relating to ITS deployment and to advise the Commission


11.

3. definition of a framework for optimised use of road and traffic data


12.

4. development of a framework for the continuity of ITS services (e.g. interfaces between interurban and urban transport)


13.

5. tackling of data security and protection, privacy and liability issues


Under this option horizontal issues indirectly affecting the take up of ITS will be addressed with a focus on improved concertation among all stakeholders. It is expected that top-down steering will be constructive and effective, resulting in synchronised actions that will allow individual ITS services to penetrate the market in a more harmonised and better- supported way than in the baseline scenario A.

Option B will make use of the instruments available to the Commission services to support joint requests for standardisation and identify and prioritise requirements for financial support or legislative work.

Option B+: Option B extended with a Directive and a comitology procedure

Option B+ builds on the same measures as option B but formalises the co-operation and coordination aspect. The ITS High Level Group would be replaced by

6. a European ITS Committee , constituted of Member States representatives to assist the Commission in adopting specific measures in defined areas (corresponding to the basic enabling measures of option B) via a comitology procedure, and

7. an ITS Advisory Group constituted of high level representatives from different relevant sectors (i.e. ITS service providers, associations of users, transport and facilities operators, manufacturing industry, social partners, existing professional associations, etc…), advising the Commission on business and technical aspects and discussing provider and user requirements and priorities.

14.

The Commission, assisted by the European ITS Committee would


- within its mandate, and where necessary, decide on specific actions for:

- the establishment of procedures and specifications, in particular for the accelerated deployment and use of traffic and travel data, European road traffic management, continuity of ITS services for freight and passengers, road safety and security, the definition of an open in-vehicle platform for ITS Services, including notably the use of a standardisation process (CEN/CENELEC/ETSI)

- type-approval of road-infrastructure-related ITS equipment and software, falling outside the scope of Directives 2002/24/EC, 2003/37/EC and 2007/46/EC.[2]

- exchange information with Member States.

Proposing secondary legislation via the comitology procedure would allow the Commission to assert effective coordination among stakeholders to remove existing bottlenecks and barriers.

The main difference between B and B+ is the adoption of a Directive putting obligations on the member states on the main priority areas defined under Option B, and the replacement of the High Level Group by the European ITS Committee assisting the Commission through comitology procedure. Considering both the direct impact (boosting uptake of ITS) and indirect impact (support for formation of economical, societal and environmental policies) the preferred option is Option B+ , because it will have more impact than the other options, especially as regards co-operation and the potential for more rapid agreements on particular issues hampering deployment of ITS across Europe. The positive effects anticipated on congestion, road safety and emissions will thus be reached earlier.

Contents

1.

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL



- Summary of the proposed action

The proposed ITS Action Plan outlines priority areas to accelerate the coordinated deployment of ITS applications and services across the European Union.

The proposed Directive provides a framework for the implementation of this ITS Action Plan. The obligations imposed to the Member States through the Directive, will be supported by the Commission through the establishment, through comitology, of common specifications aimed at ensuring the EU-wide coordinated deployment of interoperable ITS. This work shall be carried out by the Commission, assisted by a European ITS Committee. This also provides for a framework for the exchange of information with the Member States.

Without prejudice to the role of the Committee the Commission shall establish an ITS Advisory Group composed of high level executives representing stakeholders from the most important areas (ITS service providers, associations of users, transport and facilities operators, manufacturing industry, social partners, professional associations) and which shall advise the Commission on business and technical aspects of the deployment and use of ITS in the European Union. This ITS Advisory Group will collect and compile input from existing fora such as the eSafety Forum, ERTRAC etc.

- Legal basis

Articles 71 i of the Treaty establishing the European Community

- Subsidiarity principle

The subsidiarity principle applies insofar as the proposal does not fall under the exclusive competence of the Community.

The proposal respects the principle of subsidiarity because it addresses trans-national aspects that cannot be satisfactorily regulated by Member States such as the interoperability of equipment as well as establishing an internal market for ITS services. First of all, the action mainly concerns a trans-national deployment to achieve European and/or harmonised cross-border services for traffic and travel information and traffic management. Secondly, if no further Union action would be taken Member States would continue to develop and implement individual solutions, potentially creating a fragmented technological spectrum that might endanger future harmonisation and standardisation, or that would lead to lengthy processes for interoperability (as the European Electronic Toll Service shows). A further deterioration of the road traffic situation (accidents, congestion, cross-border discontinuity) would conflict with the requirements of the Treaty (especially Art. 70 'Common Transport Policy' and Art. 154 'promoting the interconnection and interoperability of national networks'). Thirdly, action at Community level is required and would have clear benefits for reason of effects (e.g. of common rules on liability as well as data security and privacy) or scale (e.g. through cost reductions for ITS applications due to common specifications and allowing for economies of scale). The objective of the proposed action can therefore only be achieved at Community level on the basis of a Community legal act

- Proportionality principle

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reasons:

The adoption of all the necessary detailed specifications by the Council and the European Parliament, on an individual basis wouldn't be practicable nor time-efficient. The Commission's involvement is limited to the minimum required for achieving the objectives of the proposal and does not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose. It is limited, in support of the Member States, to the definition, with the assistance of the European ITS Committee, of procedures and specifications in well identify priority areas that require a supra-national approach. Less conferred power would endanger an EU-wide integrated and coordinated deployment of interoperable ITS in road transport and their interfaces with other transport modes. The proposal complies with the proportionality principle.

The financial and administrative burden of this proposal is limited to travel expenses for the meetings of the Committee and of the Advisory Group.

- Choice of instruments

Proposed instrument: Directive.

Other means would not be adequate for the following reasons:

The self-regulatory approach pursued so far by Industry is not sufficient and calls for binding provisions at European level.

A regulation would be too prescriptive, considering that many of the required actions for the optimal levels of deployment of ITS may vary from country to country. On the other hand, soft measures, including recommendations and support to co-ordination, would not directly result in a general improvement of accelerated and coordinated deployment and use of Intelligent Transport Systems applied to road transport, including interfaces with other transport modes.

Users as well as manufacturers of hardware and software require a certain level of 'security' with respect to the services to be provided, and the related equipment to deliver or consume these.

Therefore the issue calls for a legal framework at European level, where a Directive will enable Member States to adjust the established and agreed framework according to their individual needs.

A Directive is the most appropriate instrument, as the obligations imposed to the Member States recognise the different levels of ITS use and deployments, allowing them to concentrate on their priorities for implementing, while at the same time, leaving the power and responsibility to the Commission to define, with the European ITS Committee, the technical details (i.e. procedures and specifications) in support of the implementation of the Directive.

2.

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION



15.

Reimbursement of travel expenses (European ITS Committee and the Advisory Group 4 meetings a year each): 122.200,00 €


16.

5. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION


- European Economic Area

The proposed act concerns an EEA matter and should therefore extend to the European Economic Area.