Position Paper: eCall

The European Commission has launched further proposals to prepare the way for the introduction of emergency call (eCall) to improve road safety.

On the 13th of June, the European Commission proposed a Regulation requestig that all new types of vehicles in categories M1 and N1 entering the EU market after the 1st of October 2015 have an in-vehicle eCall system. On the same date, the European Commission adopted Decision 2013/0166 that will require EU Member States to deploy the necessary eCall Public Service Answering Points (PSAP) infrastructure required for the proper receipt and handling of all eCalls on their territory by 2015. This follows the adoption of specifications covering the upgrading of the PSAP infrastructure required for the proper receipt and handling of eCalls (Delegated Regulation 2013/305 adopted in November 2012).

These new steps follow on from Recommendation 750/2011/EU that had asked Member States to ensure that mobile phone network operators upgrade their infrastructure so that eCalls are efficiently passed on to emergency services. In 2012 the European Parliament had also adopted a Resolution supporting the need to progress in the implementation of this technology.