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Document 32010L0040

The deployment of intelligent transport systems in Europe

Date of last review:
10/02/2025
Initial creation date:
07/01/2011
Summarised document(s):
Author:
Publications Office of the European Union
Responsible entity(ies):
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport

The deployment of intelligent transport systems in Europe

SUMMARY OF:

Directive 2010/40/EU – rules on the deployment of intelligent transport systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?

Directive 2010/40/EU aims to encourage the development of innovative transport technologies to create intelligent transport systems (ITSs)1. This will be done by introducing common European Union (EU) standards and specifications. These aim to establish interoperable2 and efficient ITS services while allowing individual EU Member States to decide which systems to invest in.

Amending Directive (EU) 2023/2661 revises and updates Directive 2010/40/EU to take on board emerging services such as connected and automated mobility, on-demand mobility applications and multimodal transport. Extending the scope of the original directive should result in smarter, safer and more efficient mobility throughout the EU.

KEY POINTS

ITSs cover a wide area of services

The directive applies to ITS applications and services in the EU road transport sector and to the way in which these applications communicate with other modes of transport.

Priority areas and priority actions

Amending Directive (EU) 2023/2661 identifies the following priority areas for the development and use of specifications and standards:

  • information and mobility ITS services;
  • travel, transport and traffic management ITS services;
  • road safety and security applications (e.g. alerts of risks of reduced visibility, or of people, animals and debris on the road);
  • ITS services for cooperative3, connected and automated mobility.

Within these priority areas, there are six priority actions for developing and using specifications and standards, set out in detail in Annex I to the directive. These focus on:

  1. providing EU-wide multimodal travel information services;
  2. providing EU-wide real-time traffic information services;
  3. data and procedures for providing, where possible, road-safety-related minimum universal traffic information free of charge to users;
  4. the harmonised provision for an interoperable EU-wide eCall service;
  5. providing information services for safe and secure parking places for trucks and commercial vehicles;
  6. providing reservation services for safe and secure parking for trucks and commercial vehicles.

Work programme

By means of an implementing act, the European Commission adopts a work programme that will be extended every five years. Implementing Decision C/2024/6798 adopts the most recent working programme for 2024–2028.

The programme is adopted after consulting with the European ITS Advisory Group and relevant stakeholders, and includes at least the following:

  • objectives and dates for its implementation every year, indicating for which work items specifications are to be developed;

  • the data types, set out in Annex III, which the Commission is considering adding to, or removing from, the annex by means of delegated acts;

  • preparatory work to be done by the Commission in cooperation with stakeholders and Member States.

Application of specifications to the deployment of ITS

Member States must:

  • ensure that the specifications adopted by the Commission are applied to ITS applications and services when those ITS applications and services are deployed in line with the principles laid out in Annex II to the directive;

  • cooperate:

    • in respect of the priority areas, insofar as no specifications have been adopted with regard to those areas,

    • on operational aspects of the implementation of the specifications adopted by the Commission,

    • on practices for assessing compliance with requirements for data providers,

    • on developing mechanisms for compliance enforcement,

    • on issues concerning cross-border cooperation.

Specifications

By means of delegated acts, the Commission has adopted specifications for:

  • eCall (Regulation (EU) No 305/2013, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/1084);
  • information services for safe and secure parking places (Regulation (EU) No 885/2013);
  • road-safety-related minimum universal traffic information free of charge to users (Regulation (EU) No 886/2013);
  • EU-wide multimodal travel information services (Regulation (EU) 2017/1926, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/490);
  • EU-wide real-time traffic information services (Regulation (EU) 2022/670).

The specifications to be adopted by the Commission that cover the EU ITS services provided by cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) will address the security credential management system and will lay down the duties of the following roles:

  • C-ITS certificate policy authority;

  • C-ITS trust list manager;

  • C-ITS point of contact.

The Commission will be responsible for ensuring the duties of those roles are executed.

FROM WHEN DO THE RULES APPLY?

Directive 2010/40/EU had to be transposed into national law by .

Amending Directive (EU) 2023/2661 has to be transposed into national law by .

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

KEY TERMS

  1. Intelligent transport systems (ITS). Systems in which information and communication technologies are applied in the field of road transport, including in infrastructure, vehicles and users, in traffic and mobility management and for interfaces with other modes of transport.
  2. Interoperable. When systems and the underlying business processes are able to exchange data and share information and knowledge, making the continuity of ITS services possible.
  3. Cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS). Intelligent transport systems that enable ITS users to interact and cooperate by exchanging secured and trusted messages, without any prior knowledge of each other and in a non-discriminatory manner.

MAIN DOCUMENT

Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of on the framework for the deployment of intelligent transport systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport (OJ L 207, , pp. 1–13).

Successive amendments to Directive 2010/40/EU have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

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