CITA warmly congratulates Mr. Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General of DG MOVE, on the appointment as the new European Coordinator for Road Safety in the European Commission.

We especially welcome this step since it offers the possibility to streamline effectively various aspects of road safety and will hopefully therefore help to achieve what should be the ultimate political objective: Vision Zero.

In particular, we look very much forward to advance in vehicle continuous compliance by ensuring the coordination of requirements both for new and in-use vehicles.

More than 25.000 road fatalities occur within the European Union annually. Risk factors are numerous and include human factors, infrastructure and vehicle safety. In this context, the European Commission introduced a new road safety strategy under its third Mobility Package in May 2018. CITA very much welcome these measures.

CITA is committed to work hard on all possible measures to achieve Vision Zero. Since several factors have an impact on road safety, the issue of Road Safety can only be tackled with a holistic approach. Especially the evaluation of automated driving functions during the whole life cycle of a vehicle (continuous compliance) needs an integration of all vehicle inspection provisions, from the type approval tests over conformity and market surveillance tests until the periodic technical inspection. We are confident that Mr. Baldwin will, in his new function as European Coordinator for Road Safety, ensure a coherent concept throughout the different Directorate Generals in charge of issues related to road safety. This includes obviously units working on the regulatory framework for vehicle safety within other Directorate Generals than DG MOVE.

CITA is and will continue to be a partner of the Commission in order to improve safety on our roads.