The Commission also proposed a draft directive laying down the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other transport modes.
Many Member States have already developed Intelligent Transport Systems. However, according to the Commission such services have been deployed on a fragmented basis. Hence, the aim of the present proposal is to establish a framework to coordinate the deployment and use of Intelligent Transport Systems applied to road transport, including the interfaces with other transport modes. The aim is to create harmonised cross-border services, particularly for traffic and travel information and traffic management.
According to the Commission “the self-regulatory approach pursued so far by industry was not sufficient” therefore it has decided to put forward a proposal for a directive.
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n general, Member States support the establishment of common norms and standards to ensure interoperability and compatibility of ITS in the EU. Nevertheless, there is no common agreement yet on how to deploy ITS across the EU.
Some Member States, including the UK, believe that there is no need to establish a comprehensive Community legal framework for ITS applications whereas other Member States would prefer to decide on a case by case basis whether to pursue a legislative or non-legislative approach, such as voluntary agreements in order to facilitate Member State's cooperation on the ITS priority areas.
The UK government considers the proposal for legislation “inappropriate” on subsidiarity grounds. The Government supports, therefore, an approach to intelligent transport systems deployment based on coordination and cooperation.
There are also concerns over the impact that the draft directive might have on existing ITS and national policies.
The proposal is going through the co-decision procedure with QMV required at the Council. Last April, the European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution amending, under the first reading of the codecision procedure, the Commission’s proposal.
The draft proposal provides a framework for the implementation of the ITS Action Plan which outlines six priority areas for the coordinated deployment of ITS applications and services across the European Union: Optimal use of road and traffic data, Traffic and freight management, Road safety and security, Integrating ITS applications in the vehicle, Data protection and liability, European ITS co-ordination.
Under the Commission’s proposal a decision on the establishment of a comitology committee would be taken through the co-decision procedure whereas the decision on the definition of specifications for selected ITS actions is referred to the European ITS Committee. The draft directive provides for the comitology procedure (regulatory procedure with scrutiny) to be applied to specifications defining detailed provisions and procedures for the deployment of ITS in the EU.
The Commission would, therefore, assisted by the European ITS Committee, decide on specific actions for the establishment of procedures and specifications for the deployment and use of traffic and travel data, European road traffic management, continuity of ITS services for freight and passengers, road safety and security, the definition of an open in-vehicle platform for ITS Services. The Commission wants therefore to provide the committee with a broad mandate so that as many ITS actions as possible could be decided at Community level.
Obviously, some Member States, including the UK, consider that the Commission’s proposal is “heavily based” on the comitology procedure and, consequently, inappropriate for all foreseen actions. Other Member States are willing to accept the Commission’s approach nonetheless they asked for a clear definition of the areas to which the comitology procedure would apply.
Under the draft directive, Member States would be required to take measures necessary to ensure the coordinated deployment and use of interoperable ITS applications and services within the EU. Particularly, Member States would be required to take technical measures aiming at facilitating data exchanges between users, public authorities, and ITS service providers as well as to take measures to integrate safety and security-related ITS systems into vehicles and road infrastructure.
The Commission’s proposal also provides for type approval of road infrastructure related intelligent transport systems equipment and software.
The Commission has not provide yet an impact assessment on the specific measures to which the comitology procedure would apply. Member States are, therefore, concerned over the financial and administrative implications of the proposals and asked a “thorough cost-benefit analysis” on the impacts of the ITS deployment.
The Commission legislative proposal is not only inadequate as a mechanism for deploying intelligent transport systems across the EU but it also raises privacy and data protection concerns.
On 22 July, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) adopted an opinion on the European Commission's proposed deployment plan for intelligent transport systems (ITS) in Europe.
The draft directive would require Member States to ensure that processing of personal data is carried out in accordance with Community rules and that ITS data is protected against “misuse, including unlawful access, alteration or loss.” However, according to the EDPS, the Commission’s proposal is “too broad and general to adequately address the privacy and data protection concerns raised by ITS deployment in the Member States.” Moreover, Peter Hustinx, has stressed that “it is not clear when the performance of ITS services will lead to the collection and processing of personal data, what are the purposes and modalities for which data processing may take place, or who will be responsible for compliance with data protection obligations.”
The EDPS noted that specific services and purposes for which ITS applications might be used are not clearly defined in the proposal. Moreover, he stressed that the draft proposal does not provide yet the modalities of the data processing and of the data exchanges for the use of ITS, such decisions, which will have major privacy and data protection implications, will be taken through comitology procedure.
The EDPS whilst noting that several data processing activities will be taken through ITS for different purposes, has called for the data collected for a particular purpose to not be used for other purposes that are incompatible with that purpose.
Peter Hustinx has stressed that “The deployment of ITS will support the development of applications for 'tracking and tracing' of goods and will allow for the deployment of location-based commercial and public services.” According to the EDPS, such deployment “(…) has considerable privacy implications, for instance because these systems make it possible to track a vehicle and to collect a wide variety of data relating to European road users' driving habits.” Consequently, he called for further clarification on “the specific circumstances in which a vehicle will be tracked and its impact on the user.”
The EDPS pointed out that data controllers will be responsible for ensuring that privacy and data protection considerations are implemented at all levels of the processing chain, therefore, he believes that it is essential to clarify who will be the data controllers. He called for suitable safeguards to be implemented by data controllers providing ITS services such as “limiting the processing to the data strictly necessary for that purpose, ensuring that appropriate security measures are built in the systems so that location data are not disclosed to unauthorized recipients, and providing users with an effective means of de-activation of the location device/feature.”
The draft directive is a priority of the Swedish Presidency which intends to seek political agreement at the Transport Council in October.
