COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 28 September 1995 on the deployment of telematics in the road transport sector (95/C 264/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to Council Decision 93/629/EEC of 29 October 1993 on the creation of a trans-European road network (1), and the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, submitted by the Commission on 7 April 1994 (2);

Having regard to the Council resolution of 24 October 1994 on telematics in the transport sector (3) and the Commission's communication of 4 November 1994 on telematics in the transport sector;

Having regard to the conclusions of the Essen European Council of 9 and 10 December 1994 concerning trans-European networks and the emphasis placed on transport management systems;

Having regard to Council Decision 94/801/EC of 23 November 1994 adopting a specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration in the field of telematics applications of common interest (1994 to 1998) (4) and Council Decision 94/914/EC of 15 December 1994 adopting a specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration in the field of transport (1994 to 1998) (5);

Whereas for the deployment of road telematics the Member States must give priority to introducing the applications closest to operational implementation, on the basis of minimum technical specifications and standards that will ensure compatibility of equipment and improve safety and efficiency throughout Europe;

Whereas an appropriate level of interoperability must be defined for those applications, which must provide an optimum service to the user, in reasonable economic conditions, without discrimination between the nationals of the Member States, be able to accommodate users from third countries, take account of existing situations, with due regard for the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity, and not entail any additional bureaucracy;

Whereas it is also necessary to draw not only on the experience of the Member States but also on experience acquired in European project work, in order to verify the specific details of the interoperability and continuity of applications and to identify obstacles and difficulties which are holding back their development on a pan-European scale and would thus justify appropriate Community measures;

NOTES with satisfaction the work done by the Member States and the Commission in preparation for the deployment of road telematics applications,

NOTES that the Commission has drawn up harmonizing measures in the field of transport telematics applications, as announced in its 1995 work programme on the information society,

I

NOTES with satisfaction the measures taken for the harmonized deployment of early warning traffic services using RDS-TMC (radio data system - traffic message channel),

Noting that work by experts has enabled technical specifications and minimum standards to be defined for the compatibility of on-board terminals for the deployment of automatic early warning systems using RDS-TMC and giving the public access to services which can gradually be made interoperable and continuous,

Recognizing the major role that the private sector has to play in developing and providing RDS-TMC services,

REQUESTS the Commission, in order to ensure the interoperability of early warning traffic services using RDS-TMC and in order to ensure the compatibility of the on-board terminals necessary for those services, to make a proposal based on the current proposed standards for early warning traffic services using RDS-TMC, including the proposal by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) on the Alert-C (advice and problem location for European road traffic, version C), broadcasting protocol with:

- list of incident messages, and

- structure of the related location tables,

RECOMMENDS that, in the meantime, those Member States that wish to give the public access to early warning traffic services using RDS-TMC use the abovementioned CEN proposal for the Alert-C protocol,

REQUESTS the Member States and the Commission, meeting within the Steering Committee of the DEFI (definition of first step implementation) initiative, to commit themselves to the continuation of standardization work on specific RDS-TMC services and to examine the development of the ALERT+ (advice and problem location for European road traffic, 'plus` version) protocol as a compatible extension of the Alert-C protocol with a view in particular to the transmission of detailed information on road traffic, journey times and public passenger transport,

RECOMMENDS that those Member States that wish to introduce international exchange of road information between centres use the provisional standards elaborated by the CEN TC/278 (CEN-Technical Committee No 278),

REQUESTS the Member States and the Commission, meeting within the Steering Committee of the DEFI initiative, to define the rules for coordinating the various functions of the services in order to ensure compatibility between interurban services using the abovementioned specifications and urban services which will be developed more specifically for conurbations, and to examine with industry the minimum impact on management of the basic functions of the terminal,

REQUESTS the Member States and the Commission to support standardization work on specific RDS-TMC services and in particular the Alert+ protocol and road traffic messages,

REQUESTS the Member States and the Commission to support standardization work on wider-ranging information services allowing two-way data exchange by means of short and medium-range communications, to continue and accelerate work on the definition, by analogy with RDS-TMC, of technical specifications and minimum standards ensuring the compatibility of on-board terminals and the interoperability of all services,

REQUESTS the Member States to promote, for specific locations to be introduced in telematics systems and services, the use of digital road maps in accordance with the CEN/ TC/278's proposal regarding the provisional standard 'prENV GDF 2.1` (geographic data file version 2.1), until definitive standards are adopted,

NOTES with satisfaction the measures taken to define the levels of continuity, interoperability and compatibility which can effectively be implemented between the various road traffic information and early warning services, cross-border data exchange, the use of variable message signs and cross-border traffic management, on the basis of the analysis made by national experts of the outcome of validation and demonstration projects, with priority application to the trans-European road network,

II

NOTING that, within the framework of the CEN/TC 278's work, the CEN has drawn up proposals for provisional standards for short-range communications, giving priority to systems using the 5,8 GHz band and the infrared range, which can be used for added value services, especially automatic toll systems,

REQUESTS the European standardization bodies to amplify those proposals to cover all technical aspects of short-range communications and to extend them to methods of transmission by mobile telephone (cellular radio) and by satellite,

REQUESTS the Commission and the Member States to evaluate those proposals in the context of the fourth research and development framework programme and in particular to examine the problems of convergence with existing systems,

REQUESTS the Member States to ensure that new systems based on short-range exchanges are compatible with the standards envisaged,

REQUESTS the Commission and the Member States to speed up their work on the interoperability of electronic toll systems at European level on the trans-European road network, taking into account Directive 93/89/EEC (6),

REQUESTS the standardization bodies to give priority to the official approval of the standards and specifications referred to above,

III

REQUESTS the Commission:

(a) to use the assistance of a working party of high level representatives appointed by the Member States for the strategic study of the deployment of road telematics applications, that working party could involve in its discussions, as necessary, public or private partners (business and industry) and users;

(b) to organize the activities of that working party in such a way as to avoid duplicating the work of existing working parties, so that specific measures under way can be better grouped and better use made of their results,

REQUESTS the Member States to appoint their representatives on the working party from the ministry(ies) or body(ies) responsible for road telematics,

REQUESTS the Commission, on the basis of the working party's findings, the Member States' know-how and experience and the results of initial implementations and of projects under the fourth research and development framework programme and other European initiatives under way:

(c) to propose a general strategy and a framework for the deployment of telematics applicationss for road transport:

- to define the other applications to be developed as a priority,

- to produce proposals for minimum specifications to permit the effective launching of those other applications and to inform the Council as soon as possible of the results achieved,

- to discover the real obstacles to the implementation of such services arising, on the one hand, from the administrative and constitutional structures of the Member States and, on the other hand, from the interoperability and compatibility of those services at a pan-European level, and to draw up any necessary directives to remove those obstacles;

(d) to submit to it a detailed work programme for the working party and, in particular before the end of 1995, a detailed report on the activities of the European Union in the road telematics field, including a cost-benefit analysis of the envisaged measures, and to keep it regularly informed of the results obtained.

(1) OJ No L 305, 10. 12. 1993, p. 11.

(2) OJ No C 220, 8. 8. 1994, p. 1.

(3) OJ No C 309, 5. 11. 1994, p. 1.

(4) OJ No L 334, 22. 12. 1994, p. 1.

(5) OJ No L 361, 31. 12. 1994, p. 56.

(6) OJ No L 279, 12. 11. 1993, p. 32.