High-Level Dialogue of Member States on CAD – Joint Commitments and Call for Action

Hosted in Ghent (Belgium) by the Flemish Ministry of Mobility and Public Works, under the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union, the meeting gathered on 18-19 June representatives from 16 EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK as well as many key experts in the field from the European Commission, industry, European associations, and research.

On the first day, among others, the FAME project team and EC DG GROW, working together with the EC Joint Research Centre, led discussions on removing barriers and harmonising regulations to allow for Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) testing (read more on the actual work of FAME on this topic in the related section of the Knowledge Base).

On 19 June, the Member States signed a pledge to jointly commit to a connected and automated transport future in Europe. The document includes a call for action towards the European Commission and the Industry to support and contribute to creating the right (regulatory) environment to overcome societal challenges and objectives of European, national, regional and local authorities, in particular regarding improving road safety and providing sustainable, inclusive and affordable transport to all.

Based on the joint commitments, the European Forum for Automated Transport was initiated, where the EU Member States, voluntarily, will be able to discuss among themselves the deployment and use of automated vehicles in Europe, through:

• information sharing
• best practices exchange
• mutual understanding of the national implication once the automated vehicles hit the road

Everyone agreed that CCAM is not only about technology but also, or mostly, about the societal benefits that this technology can bring. As such, it should be perceived as a tool rather than an end in itself.

Download the pledge and call for action document 

Source: The original article was published here.