The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer\nProtection and the Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the\nown-initiative report drafted by Olga SEHNALOVÁ (S&D,\nCZ) and Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH (EPP, DE) on eCall: a new 112 service\nfor citizens.
\nRegretting the delays and lack of progress in the\nvoluntary deployment of eCall to date, the report calls on those\nMember States that have not yet done so to sign the Memorandum of\nUnderstanding on the development of an EU-wide interoperable eCall\nservice in Europe. It calls on the Member States to address these\ngaps as a matter of urgency, and calls on the Commission to step up\nits monitoring in this regard.
\nMembers consider that eCall should be a public\nEU-wide emergency call system, embedded in the vehicle and\nbased on 112 and on common pan-European standards to\nguarantee technology neutrality. It should ensure a reliable,\nhigh-quality, affordable and userfriendly service that can\nwork seamlessly and interoperably across the whole of Europe in all\nautomobiles, irrespective of make, country or actual location of\nthe vehicle.
\nThe report considers that if the introduction of eCall\nis left to market forces, eCall will only benefit people who can\nafford high-end vehicles, whereas a mandatory introduction of\nthe system embedded in all vehicles would lead to lower costs\nand universal, EU-wide deployment.
\nThe Commission is urged to:
\nPSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points): Members note that ensuring that all PSAPs in all\nMember States are equipped to a high standard is essential if there\nis to be a uniform level of protection of all citizens throughout\nthe Union. The report calls, therefore, on the Commission to\npropose legislation requiring Member States to upgrade their\nemergency response services infrastructures, and to provide\nsuitable training to operators, so as to be able to handle\neCalls by 2015, in a way that is best suited to their national\nstructures and that makes them accessible to everyone.
\nThe Commission is called upon to:
\nPrivate emergency call services: Members consider that a public EU-wide eCall service\ncan coexist with private emergency services, on the\ncondition that all performance standards are met by both public\nand private services, and that – regardless of whether or not\na vehicle buyer opts for a private solution – all vehicles are\nequipped with the public eCall service so as to ensure continuity\nof the service in all Member States throughout the lifetime of the\nvehicle.
\nThe report requests that when a consumer that\nsubscribes to a private emergency call service chooses not to use\nthat service, or is travelling in a country where that service is\nnot offered, the public 112 eCall service should automatically be\navailable.
\nData protection: the\nreport stresses the fact that the public eCall system must not\nunder any circumstances allow the journey of a vehicle to be\ntraced, signifying that it must remain a dormant system until an\nemergency call is triggered, in line with the recommendations of\nthe Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection.
\nAppropriate rules that respect transparency\nshould be included for the processing of\npersonal data relating to eCalls, not only by mobile network\noperators (MNOs) but also by all other actors involved, including\nvehicle manufacturers, PSAPs and emergency services, in order to\nensure that the principles of privacy and protection of personal\ndata are respected.
\nOther related fields:\nthe report emphasises that the eCall system uses technical\ncomponents (satellite positioning, processing and communication\ncapabilities) that could also provide the basis for several other\nin-vehicle applications and services. In this context, it\nrecommends the following:
\nin order to ensure open choice for customers,\nthe eCall in-vehicle system should be accessible free of charge and\nwithout discrimination to all stakeholders such as providers of car\naftermarket products and services, equipment suppliers, repair\nshops and independent service providers, roadside assistance and\nrelated services;
\nthat the eCall system is based on an interoperable\nand open-access platform for possible future in-vehicle\napplications or services, in order to encourage innovation and\nboost the competitiveness of the European information technology\nindustry on the global markets;
\nthat the Commission and the Member States step up\ntheir activities as regards providing extensive practical\ninformation through the development of a targeted and far-reaching\ncommunication strategy, and implementing coordinated\nawareness-raising campaigns, concerning the eCall system and\nits benefits, its use and its functionalities.
\nLastly, the Member States, in cooperation with the\nCommission, are called upon to establish and run national pilot\nprogrammes to implement the automatic vehicle emergency response\nsystem (eCall) in order to identify possible problems, and to\nprepare the way for the mandatory implementation of the system in\nall Member States in 2015.
\nThe Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer\nProtection and the Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the\nown-initiative report drafted by Olga SEHNALOVÁ (S&D,\nCZ) and Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH (EPP, DE) on eCall: a new 112 service\nfor citizens.
\nRegretting the delays and lack of progress in the\nvoluntary deployment of eCall to date, the report calls on those\nMember States that have not yet done so to sign the Memorandum of\nUnderstanding on the development of an EU-wide interoperable eCall\nservice in Europe. It calls on the Member States to address these\ngaps as a matter of urgency, and calls on the Commission to step up\nits monitoring in this regard.
\nMembers consider that eCall should be a public\nEU-wide emergency call system, embedded in the vehicle and\nbased on 112 and on common pan-European standards to\nguarantee technology neutrality. It should ensure a reliable,\nhigh-quality, affordable and userfriendly service that can\nwork seamlessly and interoperably across the whole of Europe in all\nautomobiles, irrespective of make, country or actual location of\nthe vehicle.
\nThe report considers that if the introduction of eCall\nis left to market forces, eCall will only benefit people who can\nafford high-end vehicles, whereas a mandatory introduction of\nthe system embedded in all vehicles would lead to lower costs\nand universal, EU-wide deployment.
\nThe Commission is urged to:
\nPSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points): Members note that ensuring that all PSAPs in all\nMember States are equipped to a high standard is essential if there\nis to be a uniform level of protection of all citizens throughout\nthe Union. The report calls, therefore, on the Commission to\npropose legislation requiring Member States to upgrade their\nemergency response services infrastructures, and to provide\nsuitable training to operators, so as to be able to handle\neCalls by 2015, in a way that is best suited to their national\nstructures and that makes them accessible to everyone.
\nThe Commission is called upon to:
\nPrivate emergency call services: Members consider that a public EU-wide eCall service\ncan coexist with private emergency services, on the\ncondition that all performance standards are met by both public\nand private services, and that – regardless of whether or not\na vehicle buyer opts for a private solution – all vehicles are\nequipped with the public eCall service so as to ensure continuity\nof the service in all Member States throughout the lifetime of the\nvehicle.
\nThe report requests that when a consumer that\nsubscribes to a private emergency call service chooses not to use\nthat service, or is travelling in a country where that service is\nnot offered, the public 112 eCall service should automatically be\navailable.
\nData protection: the\nreport stresses the fact that the public eCall system must not\nunder any circumstances allow the journey of a vehicle to be\ntraced, signifying that it must remain a dormant system until an\nemergency call is triggered, in line with the recommendations of\nthe Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection.
\nAppropriate rules that respect transparency\nshould be included for the processing of\npersonal data relating to eCalls, not only by mobile network\noperators (MNOs) but also by all other actors involved, including\nvehicle manufacturers, PSAPs and emergency services, in order to\nensure that the principles of privacy and protection of personal\ndata are respected.
\nOther related fields:\nthe report emphasises that the eCall system uses technical\ncomponents (satellite positioning, processing and communication\ncapabilities) that could also provide the basis for several other\nin-vehicle applications and services. In this context, it\nrecommends the following:
\nin order to ensure open choice for customers,\nthe eCall in-vehicle system should be accessible free of charge and\nwithout discrimination to all stakeholders such as providers of car\naftermarket products and services, equipment suppliers, repair\nshops and independent service providers, roadside assistance and\nrelated services;
\nthat the eCall system is based on an interoperable\nand open-access platform for possible future in-vehicle\napplications or services, in order to encourage innovation and\nboost the competitiveness of the European information technology\nindustry on the global markets;
\nthat the Commission and the Member States step up\ntheir activities as regards providing extensive practical\ninformation through the development of a targeted and far-reaching\ncommunication strategy, and implementing coordinated\nawareness-raising campaigns, concerning the eCall system and\nits benefits, its use and its functionalities.
\nLastly, the Member States, in cooperation with the\nCommission, are called upon to establish and run national pilot\nprogrammes to implement the automatic vehicle emergency response\nsystem (eCall) in order to identify possible problems, and to\nprepare the way for the mandatory implementation of the system in\nall Member States in 2015.
\n