The European Automotive Research Partners Association
EARPA
Founded in 2002, EARPA is the association of automotive R&D organisations.
ID: 91806074044-71
Lobbying Activity
Response to European Partnership for Safe and Automated Road Transport
26 Aug 2019
The European Automotive Research Partners Association – EARPA – representing 52 RTOs active in road mobility research, appreciates the developments and discussions towards a European Partnership for Safe and Automated Road Transport. For the next stages of Safe, Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility, coordinated and collaborative research will be key to bring Europe solutions which are safer, cleaner, smarter and more efficient – both on a systems level as on user centric levels.
As in the Inception Impact Assessment (IIA), within Horizon 2020, a growing number of expert fields are cooperating to get connected and automated driving functions in place. A partnership as drafted now, would allow for a much more programmatic and systemic approach and coordination of efforts. A good coordination with other future partnerships, e.g. on AI, HPC, 5G, Cyber Security, ECSEL, Batteries and 2Zero would be valuable for its impacts.
Nevertheless, after the first sections in the IIA, the sketched “European partnership for safe and automated road transport” seems to be rather a partnership for automated road transport. Under the “problem the initiative aims to tackle”, it states “this initiative is expected to address the […] two problems that hinder the uptake of automated mobility systems and services on roads in the EU”. The safety aspect seems to have been dropped there, as it is not one of the primary problems described nor is it reflected in any of the specific objectives.
Thus, road transport safety research in name is clearly and dominantly part of the partnership, yet in future situations it may well be very hard to find a good framework for this subject. It is not one single technological solution, but the combination of innovations targeting all elements of the road transport system which may bring Europe closest to Vision Zero. Innovation in CCAM needs to be complemented by the development of new approaches to address a multitude of safety risks which will not be avoided by CCAM.
We recommend not to mix technological solutions which CCAM can bring, with one of the most important intended social impacts: improving road safety (and thus be more in line with the Commission Staff Working Document “EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030 - Next steps towards "Vision Zero", 19th June 2019).
EARPA feels like such a partnership can indeed help to overcome several of the hurdles in the patchy cooperation between public and private stakeholders. Nevertheless, one should be aware that there is a huge urge and momentum in the European industry and research to make true progress in this field. The large number of launched new companies and emerging start-ups in this field, shows this to some extent. This willingness and the increasing speed of developments, as well as the creativity and possibilities many SMEs can offer, should be carefully taken into account. Based on experiences in existing Horizon 2020 partnerships, it therefore would seem to fit best to work in a co-programmed partnership (Option 1). The openness, flexibility and speed in this type of partnership will be beneficial for both the speed of R&I as well as uptake of results. In our experience, this type of partnership is better suited for participation by SMEs and non-West-European partners with a less active network.
For the future partnership it will be important to limit the request for administrative activities by the members. It will be essential to have central and national reporting systems aligned (timing, contents, language). Having an internationally harmonised funding framework would to a large extend decomplicate stakeholder collaboration.
We advise that the Strategic Research Agenda of a future partnership is developed by all stakeholders, including Member States and RTOs.
EARPA is willing to actively contribute to the next steps in the preparation of this partnership, including e.g. contributing to the stakeholder workshop, mentioned
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