PURPOSE: ensure the coordinated and coherent deployment of the interoperable EU-wide eCall service and ensure the full functionality, compatibility, interoperability, continuity and conformity of the service throughout the Union

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision No 585/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the deployment of the interoperable EU-wide eCall service

CONTENT: this Decision introduces a mandatory EU-wide system to handle emergency calls sent automatically by cars or triggered manually by people in the car in case of a crash (eCalls). The eCall is expected to speed up the emergency services' response time bringing down the number of fatalities and reducing the severity of injuries suffered in road accidents. Throughout the EU.

The Decision provides that Member States must have the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) infrastructure to handle eCalls in place at least 6 months before the type-approval requirements for the corresponding in-vehicle device start to apply, and in any case no later than 1 October 2017.

The technical requirements for eCall devices, which are to be fitted to all new cars and light vans, are contained in a separate proposal.

Each Member State:

· may organise its emergency services in the way most cost effective and appropriate to its needs , including the possibility of filtering calls that are not emergency calls and may not be handled by eCall PSAPs, in particular in the case of manually triggered eCalls;

· may allow private organisations recognised by it to deal with the receipt and handling of some or all eCalls.

The Decision also contains the following points:

· data transmitted via the EU-wide eCall service are used exclusively to attain the objectives of the Decision. The processing of personal data in the context of handling eCalls must fully comply with the personal data protection rules provided for in Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and in Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;

· the handling of eCalls should be provided free of charge to users of the EU-wide eCall service;

· eCalls can originate from anywhere in Member States’ territory, provided there is at least one public mobile wireless communications network available.

Deployment of the eCall service should be preceded by an awareness-raising campaign supported by the Commission, explaining to citizens the benefits, functionalities and data protection safeguards of the new system.

By 24 December 2015, Member States shall report to the Commission on the state of implementation of the Decision.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 23.06.2014.

The European Parliament adopted by 538 votes to 126, with 10 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the deployment of the interoperable EU-wide eCall.

Parliament adopted its position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure. The amendments adopted at plenary are the result of an agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council. They amended the proposal as follows:

The co-legislators agreed that Member States should deploy on their territory, at least six months before the date of application of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the type-approval requirements for the deployment of the eCall in-vehicle system and in any case no later than 1 October 2017 , the eCall PSAP infrastructure required for the proper receipt and handling of all eCalls.

The main aim should be to ensure the full functionality, compatibility, interoperability, continuity and conformity of the service throughout the Union.

Depending on the organisation of the handling of emergency calls in each Member State, such calls can be first received under the responsibility of a public authority or a private organisation recognised by the Member State concerned.

Moreover, the amended text stipulated that:

the processing of personal data in the context of handling eCalls fully complies with the personal data protection rules provided for in Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and in Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; data transmitted via the eCall service are used exclusively for the attainment of the objectives of this Decision; the handling of eCalls is provided free of charge to users of the EU-wide eCall service; eCalls can originate from anywhere in their territory , provided there is at least one public mobile wireless communications network available.

Since not all Union citizens are familiar with the use of the EU-wide eCall service, its deployment should be preceded by an awareness-raising campaign supported by the Commission , explaining to citizens the benefits, functionalities and data protection safeguards of the new system.

The campaign should take place in Member States and should aim at informing users on how to use the system properly and how to avoid false alarms.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the report by Philippe DE BACKER (ADLE, BE) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the deployment of the interoperable EU-wide eCall.

The parliamentary committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should be to amend the Commission’s proposal as follows:

Members adopted an amendment stipulating that, by 1 October 2015 , Member States should deploy the necessary eCall PSAP infrastructure required for the proper receipt and handling of all eCalls, purged of non-emergency and false calls, on their territory.

The report also stipulated that Member States should:

have the option to outsource all or some 112 eCall services, through public service delegation, to assistance providers recognised by that Member State; that data transmitted via the eCall service are used exclusively for rescue and traffic management purposes following an emergency call; ensure that eCall service is free of charge for eCall users.

Members added two recitals stressing:

the importance of an awareness raising campaign preceding the deployment of the eCall service to explain the benefits, the functionalities and the data protection safeguards of the new system to citizens; the need to ensure equivalent access to 112 and emergency services for all citizens, the level of accuracy and reliability of caller location of a call to 112 with a GNSS-enabled mobile terminal should be equivalent to that of an eCall.

PURPOSE: to ensure the coordinated and coherent deployment of the interoperable EU-wide eCall service and to guarantee interoperability and continuity of the service throughout Europe.

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: road safety is one of the major elements of the European Union’s transport policy. In 2011 around 30 000 people were killed and more than 1.5 million injured in about 1.1 million traffic accidents on EU roads. In this context, eCall can significantly contribute to the reduction of road fatalities and alleviation of severity of road injuries.

Therefore, the harmonised implementation of an interoperable EU-wide eCall service in the EU has been in the agenda of the Commission since 2005 . Given the absence of any significant progress in the voluntary deployment of eCall by the end of 2009, the Commission decided to conduct an Impact Assessment in order to assess the most appropriate policy option to implement the EU-wide eCall service in Europe.

The Commission unveiled on 8 September 2011 its strategy on regulatory measures for eCall, together with the adoption of the first part of this strategy, which consisted of a Commission Recommendation on support for an EU-wide eCall service in electronic communication networks for the transmission of in-vehicle emergency calls based on 112 (‘eCalls’). In its non-legislative resolution ‘report on eCall: a new 112 service for citizens’ adopted on 3 July 2012, the European Parliament stated that eCall should be a public EU-wide emergency call system, embedded in the vehicle and based on 112 and on common pan-European standards. It urged the Commission to submit a proposal within the framework of Directive 2007/46/EC in order to ensure the mandatory deployment of a public, 112-based eCall system by 2015 in all new type-approved cars and in all Member States’, On 26 November 2012, the Commission adopted the Delegated Regulation (EU) No 305/2013 supplementing Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the harmonised provision for an interoperable EU-wide eCall.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the impact assessment concluded that the best option to implement eCall effectively is a ‘regulatory’ approach . eCall will then be based on the installation of type-approved equipment for the Single European Emergency Number 112 in all vehicles, starting with certain categories of vehicles, and a framework for handling eCalls in the telecommunication networks and PSAPs; the ability of mobile network operators to transmit messages in a certain format and, lastly, the c apacity of the emergency call response centres (also known as PSAPs — Public Safety Answering Points) to handle these messages . The system can only be operational if all three parts are in operation simultaneously.

The estimated costs of upgrading PSAPs average around EUR 1.1 million per Member State . The benefits identified include:

reduction in fatalities (with all vehicles eCall-equipped, between 1% and 10% depending on country population density and road and emergency response infrastructure); reduction in the seriousness of the injuries (between 2% and 15%); reduction in congestion costs caused by traffic accidents; facilitation of rescue services; reduced SOS roadside infrastructure.

LEGAL BASIS: Article 91 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

CONTENT: this proposal addresses the part concerning the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) infrastructure in the Commission strategy on eCall, based on a three-pronged regulatory approach encompassing the in-vehicle system, the telecommunications networks and the PSAPs.

The current proposal calls on Member States to deploy the necessary eCall PSAP infrastructure required for the proper receipt and handling of all eCalls on their territory no later than 1 October 2015 , in accordance with the specifications laid down by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 305/2013 supplementing Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to harmonised provision for an interoperable EU-wide eCall, in order to ensure the compatibility, interoperability and continuity of the EU-wide eCall service.

Each Member State will be able to organise its emergency services in the way most cost effective and appropriate to its needs, including the possibility to filter calls that are not emergency calls and may not be handled by eCall PSAPs, in particular in the case of manually triggered eCalls.

The Commission is proposing this piece of legislation in parallel to a proposed Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council introducing in the EC motor vehicle type-approval system a requirement for fitting an eCall in-vehicle system.

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION: there are no budgetary implications for the EU budget.