ETSC urges Commission to protect safety in small cars initiative

ETSC, together with the European Cyclists’ Federation and Transport & Environment, has sent a joint letter to the European Commission ahead of the launch of an expected package of modified automotive legislation on 10 December. The organisations warn that any new initiative on small and affordable cars must not undermine vehicle safety. 

The Commission is expected to propose a new vehicle category to promote smaller, lighter electric cars built in Europe. The signatories say they could support a well-defined “M1e” sub-category, as long as it fully respects existing EU safety rules. They strongly oppose the creation of a completely new “M0” category at this stage, as the safety and market impacts are still unclear and a Commission study has not yet been published. 

The letter stresses that the EU is currently off track to halve road deaths and serious injuries by 2030, making strong vehicle safety standards essential. It calls for any M1e category to include strict limits on mass, size, bonnet height and a top speed of 120 km/h to ensure vehicles are genuinely small and safe.

ETSC and its partners also set out clear red lines. There must be no dilution of existing safety rules under the General Safety Regulation, no freeze on future type-approval standards, no harm to consumers through poorer safety performance, and no weakening of Europe’s vehicle safety industry.