The AER working group on Transports and Mobility held a workshop on smart green and integrated transport systems on 14 September, during the Nancy plenary meetings.
The aim was to enable AER members to discuss issues of sustainable mobility, including the European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), and the role regions can play in a C-ITS environment.
European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS)
In November 2016, the European Commission (EC) adopted a European Strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), a milestone on the path towards cooperative, connected and automated mobility (COM(2016) 766).
The objective of the C-ITS Strategy is to facilitate the convergence of investments and regulatory frameworks across the European Union (EU), in order to see deployment of C-ITS services in the EU by 2019.
It involves the adoption of a legal framework at EU level by 2018 to ensure legal certainty for public and private investors, the availability of EU funding for projects and the continuation of the C-ITS and the C-ROADS platforms.
By making it possible to bring vehicle that can talk to each other and to the infrastructure on EU roads, the EC intends to contribute to improved road safety and traffic efficiency and reduced energy consumption and emissions from transport, while reaping the benefits of digitisation.
As part of the evaluation of the 2010 ITS Directive (Directive 2010/40/EU), from May to July 2017 the EC carried out a public consultation to gather input on the contribution of the Directive to the coordinated deployment of ITS and the functioning of the road transport system, as well as on the need for continued EU action in this field. This will feed into the ongoing preparation of the legal framework that the Commission will set up in 2018 for the provision of C-ITS.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism, for its part, is also preparing an own-initiative report on the European Strategy on C-ITS.
Key Milestones:
To accelerate the deployment of these innovative transport technologies across Europe, in 2010 the EU introduced common rules for road transport and interfaces with other modes under the ITS Directive (Directive 2010/40/EU).
Early 2014, the EC decided to take a more prominent role in the deployment of connected driving, by setting up a C-ITS Platform. A cooperative framework in which national authorities, relevant C-ITS stakeholders and the Commission provide policy recommendations for a deployment strategy for C-ITS in the EU.
In 2016, joining forces with Member States and industry, it launched the C-ROADS Platform as a set of projects on connected, cooperative and automated driving, co-funded through EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Also in 2016, EU Member States’ transport ministers adopted the Declaration of Amsterdam, where they urged the EC to develop a European strategy on connected and automated driving, adapt the EU regulatory framework and coordinate research and innovation.
For more information, visit the European Commission Directorate General for Mobility and Transport webpage here.
Read more about the European Strategy on C-ITS in the European Parliamentary Research Service Briefing available here.
AER working group on Transports and Mobility
The AER working group on Transports and Mobility has been set up to address key transport system issues, such as connectivity and permeability, seamless transport services, freight management & data, smart green infrastructure, financing of infrastructure, regulation of state aid and regional airports; as well as to promote knowledge and experience exchange among regions. It is currently chaired by Martin Tollén, County Councillor from Östergötland (SE).
