Brussels, 19/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Member states will have to set up infrastructure for receiving the number 112 eCall (the road accident automated emergency service) by October 2017 at the latest. The institutional trialogue reached this agreement in a first reading on Wednesday 19 March.
The agreement was welcomed by European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas, who was delighted that they could now proceed to full eCall implementation and ensure that the service is not just a privilege for some member states but that it also improves the safety of all road users in Europe. He also said that he hoped that the system could help towards halving the number of deaths on the roads by 2020. The rapporteur on the subject of the European Parliament, Philip De Backer (ALDE, Belgium), explained that “the eCall system will change mobility in a good way: emergency services will be faster at the place of the accident so victims will be treated sooner, the safety of everybody on the road will increase and traffic jams will dissolve faster”.
The deal also stipulates that the infrastructure for receiving calls should be ready six months before installation of the eCall mechanism in cars. Parliament also recently adopted its position on the compulsory deadline in October 2015 for manufacturers to install the eCall mechanism. Therefore, the deadline setting up the entire infrastructure is going to be very tight or Parliament will have to back down in the forthcoming negotiations with the Council on this subject. (MD)