IRU welcomes the European Parliament’s move to expedite the discussions on the revision of the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Directive, as the Transport Committee (TRAN) is mandated to enter trilogue negotiations. The Parliament’s proposal reflects IRU’s call for a pragmatic ITS framework, which would play an important role in establishing a European mobility data space.
The Plenary of the European Parliament has confirmed that the TRAN Committee now has carte blanche to enter interinstitutional negotiations with the Council and the European Commission on the revision of the ITS Directive. The trilogue negotiations are expected to begin this week. This is a vote of trust. A formal vote on the file in the Plenary of the European Parliament is not required.
IRU Director of EU Advocacy Raluca Marian said, “This is a big win for the TRAN Committee and for commercial road transport operators, as the file proceeds directly to trilogue negotiations.
“IRU is happy to see the ambitious report by the rapporteur, Rovana Plumb. Opting for this expedited procedure also sends a strong signal to all stakeholders that we need to accelerate digitalisation in the road transport sector, with modern and pragmatic rules.”
The approach of the European Parliament reinforces the need for a broad geographical scope as well as ambitious deadlines for EU Member States to provide critical data to their National Access Points (NAPs).
The road transport industry is in favour of the efficient use of ITS applications. The centralisation of the data with NAPs will facilitate transport users’ access to relevant information. ITS applications provide significant and measurable safety, security, environmental and economic benefits.
IRU is hopeful that the European Parliament’s pragmatic proposal will prevail over the Council’s approach, which shies away from investing in an efficient and effective ITS.