Skip to main content

FIA welcomes adoption of eCall legislation

The European Parliament has voted to adopt the eCall type-approval legislation, mandating emergency call technology as a standard feature in all new vehicles from 2018. Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Region I has welcomed the outcome, while also regretting the three-year delay in implementation. Thierry Willemarck, president of FIA Region I, said: “Road safety has triumphed today. eCall has finally passed through all the necessary steps and will become mandatory in 2018. However, I hope
April 29, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The European Parliament has voted to adopt the eCall type-approval legislation, mandating emergency call technology as a standard feature in all new vehicles from 2018. Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Region I has welcomed the outcome, while also regretting the three-year delay in implementation.

Thierry Willemarck, president of 8054 FIA Region I, said: “Road safety has triumphed today. eCall has finally passed through all the necessary steps and will become mandatory in 2018. However, I hope that this can serve as an example to the European Institutions in the lives lost while the negotiations continued. When there is a proven case for lives saved, technologies must be swiftly implemented. However, we are pleased to see that there is a possibility to empower consumers through the 1690 European Commission’s mandate to examine open, secure standardised platforms that could be a great step forward for future connected car services in an open and competitive market.”

Following a decade of negotiation, the final eCall legislation is a balanced outcome that includes a mandate to the Commission to consider interoperable, standardised, and secure and open‐access network for the eCall communication. This has the potential to ensure that users widely benefit from new connectivity features of their vehicles thanks to eCall. It can also ensure that consumers eventually make the best use of their personal data for additional connected car services.

In a positive step for the protection of consumer data, the legislation stipulates that eCall data gathered by emergency centres or their service partners must not be transferred to third parties without the explicit consent of the person concerned. Manufacturers will also have to ensure that the eCall technology design permits full and permanent deletion of data gathered.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Toyota makes the case for V2V communication systems
    June 20, 2014
    Testifying on the future of surface transportation before the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Toyota vice president Kristen Tabar, from the Toyota Technical Centre said Toyota is leading the way to ensure the next generation of vehicle communication brings the highest levels of safety, quality, and convenience to consumers. As cars become more connected to each other and the world around them, a new set of benefits and challenges have emerged.
  • UK prime minister criticises 'hare-brained' 20mph limit
    October 2, 2023
    15-minute city concept also under attack as ruling Conservative party seeks poll boost
  • IntelliDrive, connectivity, safety, mobility and the environment?
    January 30, 2012
    Shelley Row, Director of the ITS Joint Program Office, US Department of Transportation, details the new five-year ITS Strategic Research Plan. Imagine a world where vehicles of all types can talk to each other in order to reduce or eliminate crashes, where vehicles can talk to traffic signals to eliminate unnecessary stops, where travellers can get accurate travel time information about all modes and route options, and where transportation managers have data which allows them to accurately assess multimodal
  • ASECAP cautiously welcomes EU agreement on VRU safety
    March 4, 2019
    Tolling organisation ASECAP has welcomed a European agreement which would force governments to take ‘systematic account’ of vulnerable road users (VRUs). But it warns that the industry must guard against any unintended consequences of the provisional agreement between the European Council and European Parliament, which is designed to strengthen road infrastructure management in a bid to reduce fatalities and serious injuries. The wording has yet to be endorsed by the Council and the relevant European Par