Question for written answer E-003425/2017 to the Commission

Victor Negrescu (S&D)

Driverless cars have now become a reality, with many producers waiting for them to be sold on the mass market. Nissan has already announced advanced road tests in London, and is planning to build a new production facility for a market that is estimated to be worth approximately USD 1.1 trillion in 2025. Driverless cars use a system of sensors to understand the world around them, taking into account traffic signals, signs, other vehicles, pedestrians and so on.

The quality of transport infrastructure tends to vary across the EU Member States. Is the EU planning to set up a list of road transport standards in order to prepare all Member States for the arrival of driverless cars?

Answer given by Ms Bulc on behalf of the Commission (8.9.2017) 

Driverless cars are an emerging reality - in all vehicles today the driver is responsible and expected to be in control of the vehicle at all times. Estimates as to when driverless vehicles will enter the market vary from 2025 to far beyond. The steps to this driverless future are being discussed in various stakeholder platforms (C-ITS Platform, Gear 2030) and are supported by several pilot projects foreseen under Horizon 2020.

To help the introduction of driverless vehicles, the Commission has adopted a Communication to make mass deployment of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) a reality by 2019. To efficiently and safely manage complex traffic situations, driverless vehicles will be expected to coordinate their manoeuvres with the help of advanced C-ITS systems complementing the vehicle sensors. Interoperability across the EU Member States of C-ITS is ensured by the C-ROADS platform.

C-ITS enables communication between vehicles and transport infrastructure, which in turn will allow road authorities to communicate key attributes of roads. By making such information available in real-time, the predictability of what to expect on the road ahead can be improved and assist with the decision on using the automatic mode.

The Commission envisages a delegated act to give legal certainty to all C-ITS deployment initiatives and address issues such as security, data protection and interoperability. Concerning the physical road infrastructure, no specific standardisation initiatives are planned yet as more research is needed to determine how this will or should support driverless vehicles.