Skip to main content

First set of standards for C-ITS, ‘a key step towards connected cars in Europe’

Meeting at the 6th ETSI workshop, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) have confirmed that the basic set of standards for cooperative intelligence transport systems (C-ITS), as requested by the European Commission in 2009, have now been adopted and issued. The Release 1 specifications developed by CEN and ETSI will enable vehicles made by different manufacturers to communicate with each other and with the road infrastructure systems,
February 13, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Meeting at the 6th ETSI workshop, the European Committee for Standardisation (1701 CEN) and the 6613 European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) have confirmed that the basic set of standards for cooperative intelligence transport systems (C-ITS), as requested by the 1690 European Commission in 2009, have now been adopted and issued. The Release 1 specifications developed by CEN and ETSI will enable vehicles made by different manufacturers to communicate with each other and with the road infrastructure systems, by utilising wireless communication technologies to link vehicles and infrastructure and identify potential risks in real time.

When applied by vehicle manufacturers, the new specifications should contribute to preventing road accidents by providing warning messages, such as wrong-way driving or possible collisions at intersections, as well as advance warnings of roadworks, congestion and other potential risks to road safety.

Standards for cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) are being developed by the competent technical committees of CEN and ETSI, which bring together experts from key players in the automotive industry including car manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as infrastructure system suppliers and operators. Work is currently underway in both CEN and ETSI to develop the next package of standards (Release 2). 1816 European Union funded research projects such as eCoMove, Drive C2X and COMeSafety have also contributed to the standards committees, or to ETSI-organised Plugtests interoperability testing events.

The road infrastructure operators and the automotive industry are coordinating their requirements through bodies such as the 7024 Amsterdam Group, 374 Ertico – ITS Europe and the Car 2 Car Communication Consortium, and feeding these directly into the standards committees. International cooperation is taking place with 2042 ISO, 6781 IEEE and the 567 SAE to ensure a global harmonisation of ITS deployment in different regions.

Connected cars are expected to appear on European roads in 2015. The authorities in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands have agreed to cooperate on the implementation of ITS infrastructure along the route between Rotterdam and Vienna (via Frankfurt).

Related Content

  • April 1, 2019
    C-ITS in the EU: ‘A little tribal’
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong here are furrowed brows in Brussels and Strasbourg as European Union legislators begin to consider the rules which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles. The idea is to create a regulatory framework to harmonise cooperative ITS
  • April 1, 2019
    C-ITS in the EU: ‘A little tribal’
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong here are furrowed brows in Brussels and Strasbourg as European Union legislators begin to consider the rules which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles. The idea is to create a regulatory framework to harmonise cooperative ITS
  • February 1, 2012
    Need for harmonisation in ITS standards
    As the calendar rolls over, and we hop from continent to continent and World Congress to World Congress, where Memoranda of Understanding and cooperation agreements are the headline news, it is easy for those not intimately involved to forget that standards definition is a well-nigh continual process. Significant progress has been made in recent months towards achieving the critical mass and economies of scale which are going to drive development and deployment in, amongst other things, cooperative infrastr
  • November 7, 2012
    European manufacturers want functioning car connectivity by 2015
    Twelve European carmakers have agreed to step up cooperation to bring car-to-car communication to European roads through the use of a common deployment strategy. The companies, which cooperate in the Car 2 Car Communication Consortium, have said they want to have cooperative systems in place from 2015, taking account of EU technical specifications for message formats, security requirements and other requirements. According to the car manufacturers, “It is of great importance that all equipped vehicles are s