Brussels, 21st February 2018 – Yesterday the Transport Committee of the European Parliament voted an Own Initiative Report on a European strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems.

The report covers several aspects regarding the use of such systems and calls on the European Commission to take appropriate legislative steps to unlock the full potential of the digital revolution and keep the EU Industry at the forefront of innovation in the automotive sector.

To achieve this objective, the Committee asked the European Commission (point 20) to publish a legislative proposal on access to in-vehicle data before the end of the year. The report also specifies that such proposal should guarantee a fair, timely and unrestricted access to such data for all third parties to allow the entire automotive value chain and end users to benefit from digitalisation and guarantee a level playing field. By asking for this initiative, the Committee of the European Parliament recognises that access to in-vehicle data is necessary to promote consumer rights, innovation and ensure fair, non-discriminatory competition, while contributing to preserve vehicle (physical and cyber) security and data privacy rights.

ETRMA entirely supports this approach as in-vehicle data are an essential “raw material” for the tyre digital revolution. Only by having a fair and unimpeded access to this data, the tyre industry will be able to secure continued and optimised vehicle safety, to ensure complete freedom of choice for consumers, to guarantee the ability for vehicles and components manufacturers to innovate their products and even provide new types of services.

With technology developing fast, ETRMA also concurs on the strict timeline requested by the European Parliament and hopes that a legislative proposal will reflect all the recommendations of this report and be published before the end of this legislative term.

Mrs Cinaralp, Secretary General of ETRMA, commented the vote: “Action on access to in-vehicle data is indeed urgent and the guidelines given by the European Parliament set the correct path to ensure that our industry and the entire automotive value chain can foster innovation and growth and contribute to safer and greener transport”.