Brussels, 15/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - Six new countries are to take part in the international project HeERO (Harmonised eCall European Pilot), aimed at deploying the eCall embedded system. In the event of a car crash, the eCall system automatically calls the European emergency number 112, giving the exact position of the vehicle. The six countries in question - Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey - met in Madrid on 14 January to discuss common objectives and to determine the next steps to be taken towards getting eCall up and running. The meeting also marks the beginning of the second phase of HeERO (HeERO 2). Launched in January 2011 by the HeERO consortium, the HeERO project has made it possible, during the first (HeERO 1) action phase, to set in place the European emergency call system that is harmonised and interoperable in several European countries. The second phase of the HeERO project will last for two years. The above six new countries have joined the other nine pilot states of HeERO 1 (Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden). Furthermore, five other partner countries have in the meantime become associate partners in the project, and a further five are expected to follow suit, allowing them to benefit from the expertise of HeERO 1 and 2 but not granting them access to European funding earmarked for deployment. By 2015, therefore, eCall will be a reality in all European Union member states, the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) has said. (IL/transl.jl)