The legislation on CCAM in some EU countries; what’s going on?

The European Union has been actively developing legislation to facilitate the safe integration of CCAM into its transportation system. Among the key legislative milestones, it is worthwhile to mention the General Safety Regulation (EU) 2019/2144[1]), adopted on November 27, 2019, and effective from July 6, 2022. This regulation introduced mandatory advanced driver assistance systems to enhance road safety. It also established the legal framework for approving driverless and automated vehicles within the EU.

But what about the EU individual member states? From a review of national and local (regional and urban) legislations on the matter (in Germany, Greece, Italy and UK), we have been able to shed lights on the current developments addressing both the type of actors mainly involved in the definition of the CCAM legislative framework (national or local), and the type of interventions established, their directions and objectives.

In a nutshell, the type of actors mainly involved in the legislative initiatives can be found at national level. Sometimes, the national initiatives represent either the reception of EU laws, like the Decree on the accessibility requirements for products and services according to the “Accessibility Strenghtening Act” in Germany, implementing the European regulation on EAA (European Accessibility Act[2]), or define guidelines to harmonise CCAM with national strategies (digital transition) and or infrastructure design, like the Italian Technical support observatory for Smart Roads and for the connected and self-driving vehicle[3], setting the framework for infrastructure managers, public administration and users of the road to accommodate new generation of vehicles.

In such a context, the legislation on CCAM at local level role is marginal, with the notably exception of Germany, in which the Berlin mobility act[4] sets the scene for sustainable mobility, in which the introduction of further sections on commercial transport and “new mobility” vehicles can play a role. Other forms of interventions at local level (regional law) aim at fostering collaboration among operators (e.g. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) as in the “MaaS4Piemonte” project[5]) that may be conducive to the development of CCAM solutions.

Coming to the type of interventions, the review shows that three general trends can be identified (in order of relevance):

  1. Legislations addressing technical standards for trials and testing
  2. Legislations supporting R&D
  3. Legislations addressing infrastructure development
  • Standards for trials and testing: The specification of technical requirements for the construction, quality and equipment of motor vehicles with autonomous driving functions – as well as for testing and trials on public roads play an important role in the legislation. The trend in this area is to harmonise safety rules and technical requirements with the national frameworks (e.g. integration with National Road Codes).
  • Legislation supporting R&D: This area of intervention includes measures, projects and incentives to accelerate the transition to a sustainable and intelligent mobility, with particular reference to projects aimed at promoting CCAM trial, projects and Memorandum of Understanding with research institutes and operators.
  • Infrastructure development: CCAM needs the integration with infrastructure. Guidelines have been designed to set up a technological ecosystem conducive to interoperability between infrastructures and new generation vehicles.

While the three trends show no substantial difference in the sample of EU countries, as far as contents and approaches are concerned, some countries, as Germany, stands out in terms of definition of a comprehensive legal framework. The Act on Automated Driving (Eighth Act amending the Road Traffic Act)[6] represents an outstanding example of a national legal framework for autonomous driving addressing technical requirements, liability and safety and protocols. This could be the future of CCAM legislation for the countries to follow.

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019L0882

[3] https://www.mit.gov.it/nfsmitgov/files/media/documentazione/2024-11/MODELLO%20RELAZIONE%20Smart%20Road.pdf

[4] https://www.berlin.de/sen/uvk/en/mobility-and-transport/transport-policy/berlin-mobility-act/

[5] https://www.5t.torino.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Manifestazione-interesse-MaaS-Operator_MaaS4Piemonte.pdf

[6] https://bmdv.bund.de/SharedDocs/EN/Articles/DG/act-on-autonomous-driving.html