Skip to main content

Toward a driverless future

On 10 December, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, took a part in the presentation of a fully autonomous car at Munich airport. The event was designed to highlight the role that driverless cars could play in enabling safer and more efficient vehicles, while also addressing legislative and consumer challenges posed by this new technology. The event coincided with the launch of the new European Commission high level group for the automotive
December 11, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
On 10 December, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, took a part in the presentation of a fully autonomous car at Munich airport. The event was designed to highlight the role that driverless cars could play in enabling safer and more efficient vehicles, while also addressing legislative and consumer challenges posed by this new technology.

The event coincided with the launch of the new European Commission high level group for the automotive sector, bringing together all relevant stakeholders. Gear 2030, which aims to develop recommendations to reinforce the competitiveness and tackle the main challenges the automotive sector will face in the next ten years. Automation, in particular, is a major trend that will be looked at by Gear 2030 as it will strengthen the sector by enabling safer and more efficient vehicle. Legislative hurdles, infrastructure investments and product liability issues, to name a few, are all key aspects that need resolution before the sector is able to put autonomous vehicles on the market.

Bieńkowska said: “Driverless cars represent a new opportunity for the mobility of Europeans and the competitiveness of European automotive industry. However, there must be careful thought into creating the best framework as this technology becomes a reality and users must be at the heart of this deployment.”

Related Content

  • August 23, 2016
    Asecap debates the future of tolling
    Colin Sowman reports form Asecap’s Study & Information Days event in Madrid. At Asecap’s (the Association of European Toll Road Operators) recent Study and Information Days event there was no doubt about the subject at the top of the agenda: the European Union Directive 23/2014/EU. This will introduce fundamental changes to the concession model under which Asecap members operate more than 50,000km of tolled highways and, in response, it has compiled a report entitled Proposal for a Sustainable Concession Mo
  • September 11, 2013
    Heavy cost of car safety systems gives buyers pause
    New research by Frost and Sullivan finds that constant technological innovations in automotive safety warrant frequent updates to legislation. With the number of fatalities and injuries on the rise, legislative authorities in Europe are taking a keen interest in the safety of pedestrians, passengers and drivers. This enhanced focus on safety has far-reaching ramifications for the automotive industry.
  • July 26, 2013
    DG MOVE’s Christos Economou on the EU’s vision for road transport
    Christos Economou, Deputy Head of Unit dealing with land transport within the European Commission’s DG MOVE, describes a new framework for road charging in Europe to Jason Barnes. Within the European Union (EU), two Directives shape the legislative framework on road charging. Directive 1999/62/EC sets up a number of rules to make sure that national road charging schemes do not distort competition on the internal market or discriminate between hauliers. It is misleadingly called ‘Eurovignette’ after the comm
  • May 3, 2019
    Gearing up for the global electric vehicle revolution
    As transport, communications and energy networks become inextricably linked, policy makers are recognising the implications for our built environment – and the growing electric vehicle market will have a major impact on the world’s infrastructure, says Rolton Group’s Chris Evans