5GAA Statement on the proposal to amend the Intelligent Transport Systems Directive

On 14 December 2021, the European Commission published its proposal to amend the Directive 2010/40/EU on the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).

5GAA views the proposal as a first step in the right direction to establish a forward-looking regulatory framework for ITS in the context of cooperative, connected and automated mobility.

We commend the consideration given to new technologies for ITS services in the proposal. We also strongly welcome the door opened towards a transition to such newer technologies, among which 5G-V2X, in the future.

5GAA also salutes the proposal’s acknowledgement that Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) future “requirements neither impose nor discriminate in favour of the use of a particular type of technology”, following the Council’s decision to object to the C-ITS delegated act in 2019.

We regret, however, that the proposal falls short of enshrining technology neutrality among the key principles for specifications and deployment of ITS listed in Annex II.

We also consider that any future mandate for the deployment of ITS services should be subject to a co-decision procedure rather than comitology. In that regard, 5GAA notes the Regulatory Scrutiny Board’s opinion pointing at “significant shortcomings” in the impact assessment report. We believe this is particularly true when it comes to the assessment made on the possible mandatory deployment of Day 1 C-ITS from 2028 onwards.

5GAA stands ready to engage with the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union as the ordinary legislative procedure starts to suggest improvements to the initial Commission’s proposal.