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

  • Developments in urban traffic management and control
    February 1, 2012
    Mark Cartwright, Centaur Consulting, discusses developments in urban traffic management and control. Despite the concept of UTMC (Urban Traffic Management and Control) having been around for some years now, there remains a significant rump of confusion as to its relationship with its similar-sounding cousin UTC (Urban Traffic Control). To many people, the two are one and the same. However, this is not the case.
  • C-ITS deployments to be harmonised across Europe
    October 5, 2016
    The C-Roads platform has kicked off in Europe, bringing together authorities and road operators from 11 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, UK), with the aim of harmonising deployment of cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) across Europe. The C-Roads project plans to develop harmonised specifications, taking the EU C-ITS platform recommendations into account, linking all C-ITS deployments and planning intensive cro
  • Is Europe's Galileo project value for money?
    February 2, 2012
    Philippe Hamet discusses the progress of the European Union's Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System Project
  • Asfinag makes case for ITS-G5 over 5G
    March 15, 2019
    Asfinag’s Manfred Harrer and Peter Meckel talk to Jason Barnes about the organisation’s first steps towards C-ITS deployments - and why ITS-G5 will be the underpinning standard For quite a number of years, it was assumed that the connectivity required for cooperative ITS (C-ITS) applications and autonomous vehicle (AV) operations would be catered for by a bespoke communications solution/protocol. This would provide localised ad hoc communication in a manner similar to Wi-Fi, and the dedicated bandwidth/n