Top European safety groups warn against lowering standards with U.S. vehicle imports

Ten prominent European organisations in vehicle safety, consumer protection, and road safety have raised significant concerns about potential risks to vehicle safety standards in Europe. The warning, published in today’s Financial Times, comes as the EU and US negotiate future trade relations, prioritising a deal on the car sector. 

The organisations are raising the alarm at the prospect of the European Union recognising U.S. market vehicles as ‘equivalent’ to those produced to the EU’s own stringent safety regulations. The organisations caution that such a move would undermine the high safety standards that protect European road users, should these vehicles be introduced across the European market.

The FT reports that EU officials see “positive momentum” in talks to avoid a transatlantic trade war and the “priority” is to do a deal on cars (Report, February 21).    

One thing that must not be on the table in these negotiations is a capitulation by the EU on vehicle safety standards. 

Trade negotiators may push for “equivalence” or mutual recognition of vehicles, which would allow US-market vehicles to be sold in the EU, and vice-versa.  

This would be a catastrophic mistake, and the consequences would be measured in the deaths of men, women and children on EU roads. 

EU and US standards are not equivalent.  During negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal a decade ago, a study commissioned by the car industry found that EU models were, on average, 33% safer in terms of risk of a serious injury in common front-side crashes.  

Since last year, all vehicles sold on the EU market have had to meet a newer and significantly safer standard, including mandatory fitting of technologies such as automated emergency braking and emergency lane-keeping systems.  These new standards are predicted to prevent thousands of deaths over the coming years. None of them are currently mandatory in the US.  

Thousands of American-market pickup trucks, such as the RAM and Ford F-150 are already being sold in Europe through a loophole known as “individual vehicle approval”.   For a pedestrian or cyclist hit by a pick-up, the risk of serious injury increases by 90 per cent and the risk of fatal injury by almost 200 per cent.  It is essential that we close this loophole, not open the floodgates to an invasion of thousands more of these vehicles as well as large, heavy and tall US SUVs built on truck platforms.  

Since 2013, road deaths in the EU have decreased by 16%. In the US they have increased by 25%.  

Negotiations to avoid tariffs may be part of the new political reality.  But the protection of European citizens from death or serious injury on the road must be non-negotiable. 

Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director, European Transport Safety Council
Laurianne Krid, Director General, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Region I
Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General, Euro NCAP – The European New Car Assessment Programme
Stephen Russell, Director-General, ANEC – The European Consumer Voice in Standardisation
Robert Štaba, President, FEVR – European Federation of Road Traffic Victims
Barbara Stoll, Director, Clean Cities Campaign
William Todts, Executive Director, Transport & Environment
Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS
Geert van Waeg, President, International Federation of Pedestrians
Jill Warren, CEO, European Cyclists’ Federation