News from eCall

Date: 25 October 2005

On 18 October Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Slovenia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which all new cars in Europe are to be equipped with automatic emergency call (eCall) technology as soon as 2009, in line with an action plan agreed by the Commission and industry in February this year. The eCall MoU had already been signed earlier by Finland and Sweden.

"I am confident that with this clear support from the Member States and from the industry, eCall will be a reality for EU citizens by 2009" Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media.

A Commission meeting with 20 EU Member States in Brussels on 18 October confirmed that eCall is on track for the 2009 launch. Six Member States have now signed the eCall MoU. Five further Member States (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands) said that they would do so very soon.

Representatives of the EU Member States that have signed the eCall MoU with Commissioner Reding. From left to right: Mr Settimio VINTI, Director – Italian Department for Innovation and Technologies; Mr Seppo ÖÖRNI, Senior Adviser – Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications; Mr Anastasios NERANTZIS, Deputy Minister – Greek Ministry of Transport and Communications; Ms Monica SUNDSTRÖM, Chairman of the Board - Swedish National Road Authority (Vägverket); Ms Viviane REDING, EU Commissioner - European Commission; Mr Arturas KEDAVICIUS, Director - Lithuanian Emergency Responce Centre under the Ministry of Interior; Mr Matjaž JANŠA, Director General – Slovenian Ministry of Economy and Transport

More details regarding the meeting, including the agenda and presentations, will shortly be available in the eCall Toolbox.

The eCall initiative is part of the eSafety Forum. eSafety is a joint industry-public sector initiative driven by the European Commission with the support of ERTICO and ACEA (Association of European Car Manufacturers) with the aim to promote the implementation and use of advanced technologies and intelligent transport systems (ITS) for greater road safety throughout Europe.

For more information, please contact the eCall Driving Group.