18/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - Parliament endorses eCall agreement. On 17 March, the European Parliament internal market committee approved (by 26 votes to 3) the agreement reached with the Council on the eCall system. In the event of an accident, eCall technology automatically uses the 112 emergency number to call the rescue services, enabling them to reach crash scenes faster and thus save lives and reduce the severity of injuries. Under the terms of the agreement reached with the Council in December 2014, all new cars sold in the EU from 31 March 2018 must be fitted with eCall technology (see EUROPE 11265). The plenary session will pass the regulation in April. (JC)