EAC European Automobile Clubs
EAC
Der EAC vereint nationale Automobilclubs und Interessensgemeinschaften.
ID: 39808276184-09
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Member of the European Parliament)
6 Mar 2024 · Panel discussion about various transport topics
Meeting with Thomas Rudner (Member of the European Parliament)
10 Oct 2023 · Proposal for the 3rd Revision of the Driving Licence Directive
Response to European Partnership for Safe and Automated Road Transport
27 Aug 2019
Since its inception the European Automobile Clubs asbl (EAC) comprising currently six member clubs from Austria, Germany, Slovakia as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina representing above 3 million road users has been advocating for effective harmonisation of rules and regulations as concerns the use of motorised vehicles across Europe in order to enhance road safety and sustainable mobility in and beyond the European Union. As a consumer organisation we are pleased to note the European Commission’s envisaged steps towards the forthcoming framework programme Horizon Europe. The European Partnership for Safe and Automated Road Transport prepares the promising ground for more coordination and cooperation in the road transport sector in Europe.
In addition to the technical safety concerns, EAC emphasises issues related to the full protection of the motorists’ personal data as well as the required free access to car data as needed for the effective settlement of claims and damages conducted by the automobile clubs. Multidisciplinary joint research taking into account all relevant stakeholders is consequently necessary to explore affordable, technical options and the corresponding legal and economic framework (touching mainly upon questions of competition law etc.).
The association’s next lunch debate on 21 November 2019 in Brussels will be focusing on this specific topic: “Car Data – Who does OWN, HAVE and USE it?” (https://www.eaclubs.org/event). See also EAC’s latest position paper on access to vehicle data (attached).
Read full responseResponse to Obligations of European Electronic Toll Service providers
9 Aug 2019
The European Automobile Clubs asbl consists of six member clubs from Austria, Germany, Slovakia as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina representing above 2.5 million road users. In its recent position paper on passenger car tolls (“Uniform Car Toll Rules for the Single European Transport Area” attached; see point 4, also available at https://www.eaclubs.org/uniform-car-toll-rules-for-the-sing) the association has underlined the menaces inherent to electronic toll systems that “collect large amounts of data to identify and locate vehicles that could be used to create movement and behavourial profiles of the vehicle and driver. Strict rules are therefore required on the use and storage of vehicle data, moreover appropriate technical specifications such as safe encryption become indispensable.
As long as these concerns persist, the beneficial qualities of the existing vignette systems cannot be denied nor neglected: They are less intricate and more affordable; more flexible and less hazardous under the data protection law, which is particularly important in the case of extensive and comprehensive data collection in the future.”
Read full responseResponse to Cross-border enforcement of road traffic rules
12 Apr 2019
EAC comprising currently six member clubs from Austria, Germany, Slovakia as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina representing above 2.5 million road users endorses the European Commission’s initiative to revise the current Cross-Border Enforcement Directive aiming at improving its effectiveness and efficiency. We appreciate the opportunity to provide our feedback on this endeavour and to accompany the policy-making process with our first-hand insights offered from a consumer perspective, needless to say, mainly car drivers.
Since its inception EAC has been advocating for effective harmonisation of core traffic rules and regulations across Europe enhancing road safety and sustainable mobility. In order to avoid a patchwork of bilateral arrangements lacking transparency and fostering fragmentation common rules and regulations are desirable, all the more in facilitating cross-border exchange of information on road-safety-related traffic offences.
In particular, we wish to highlight following aspects (non-exhaustive list):
Access to Relevant Information
There is a need for improvement as concerns the easy access to road safety traffic rules in force in different Member States (recital 6), in particular regarding traffic offenses and their corresponding (financial) penalties. It should be guaranteed that information letters (Art. 5) are written in a clear and comprehensible manner, i. e. the necessary level of linguistic quality (translation errors…) is required, providing sufficient time to reply. Fundamental rights such as the right to an effective remedy and a fair trial must be warranted at all times.
Data Protection
Car owner’s as well as car driver’s personal data have to be processed abiding duly by the principles of the GDPR, ePrivacy Directive as well as the Directive on the processing of personal data by public authorities in criminal offenses, ensuring their traceability at all times in a simple and transparent manner.
Scope of the Directive / Standardisation of Road Safety Rules
The European Commission should consider including a provision in view of further standardising road safety rules which will simplify the cross-border enforcement thereof. The set example would be harmonised regulations on high-visibility vests. For more details, see EAC’s position paper on this: Maximum Protection at Low Cost - EAC demands harmonised regulations on high-visibility vests (attached). Likewise, we consider rules on warning triangles, rescue lanes, freeways, ghost drivers, dangerous parking and more pertinent and necessary.
Coherence with Existing Legislation
The revised CBE should be in align with relevant existing legislation such as the EETS and MID.
Read full responseMeeting with Friedrich-Nikolaus von Peter (Cabinet of Commissioner Violeta Bulc)
23 Jun 2015 · Meeting with EAC European Automobile Clubs