EU: Amendments to the European vehicle eCall regulation

 

The EU Commission has launched a public consultation about planned amendments to the EU vehicle eCall regulation.

The 112 eCall automatically dials Europe’s single 112 emergency number in the event of a serious road accident and communicates the vehicle’s location and other relevant data to the emergency services. The purpose of the revision of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 305/2013 is to adapt the specifications of emergency call centres receiving and handling eCalls to 4G/5G telecommunications networks.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 305/2013, an extension of the Intelligent Transport Systems Directive, lays out the requirements for enhancing the infrastructure of public safety answering points (PSAPs). This enhancement is essential to ensure the effective reception and processing of eCalls, guaranteeing their compatibility, interoperability, and the uninterrupted operation of the standardized EU-wide eCall service.

These requirements are founded upon the standards crafted by European standardization organizations that utilize circuit-switched (2G/3G) electronic communication networks to facilitate data exchange between vehicles and PSAPs. This communication framework is rooted in the utilization of the single European emergency number 112.

With the extensive deployment of packet-switched (4G/5G) electronic communication networks in the European Union, most mobile network operators have announced their intentions to phase out circuit-switched networks within Member States. According to the study launched in support of this transition, circuit-switched electronic communication networks are slated for discontinuation between 2025 and 2030 across the EU. European standardization organizations have concluded the technical specifications for eCall using packet-switched electronic communication networks.

Hence, there arises a necessity to amend the eCall specifications for PSAPs to accommodate this shift in electronic communication networks. This adjustment will allow for the reception and handling of eCalls from new vehicles equipped with eCall systems that employ packet-switched communications. New technical specifications pertaining to packet-switched communications must be incorporated into the PSAP specifications, while retaining the capability to receive and process circuit-switched eCalls for as long as circuit-switched public mobile wireless communication networks remain operational within the Member States’ territories.

A full text of the draft regulation can be found HERE.

To find out more about vehicle regulations in the European Union, please contact the Institute for Global Automotive Regulatory Research directly.