Luxembourg becomes first EU Member State ready for eCall

Press release
Brussels, 21 August 2017

Today, Luxembourg successfully completed the eCall conformity assessment, becoming the first EU Member State to declare itself ready to implement eCall.

This assessment was carried out under the umbrella of the EU funded  I_HeERO Project, which aims to conclude the upgrades needed for EU Member States to comply with the legal requirement of preparing for eCall’s launch on 1 October 2017.

Luxembourg, an I_HeERO project partner, completed the assessment under the supervision of NavCert GbmH, leader of the conformity assessment activities in the EU-funded I_HeERO project. I_HeERO Technical Implementation Officer Andy Rooke, from ERTICO – ITS Europe, confirms this important technical milestone: “Luxembourg’s successful compliance assessment is excellent news and will prompt the remaining Member States to go forward with their conformity assessments.”

eCall technology will be mandatory for all types of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles sold in the EU after April 2018. This EU initiative will allow emergency services to respond quicker, saving hundreds of lives each year. The I_HeERO project seeks to ensure that the EU Member States Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) are ready to handle 112 eCalls. By extending the reach of eCall to include other scenarios, such as hazardous goods vehicles, it is now looking at integrating the next generation of 112 eCall technologies.

About I_HeERO

The I_HeERO project, running fromJanuary 2015 – December 2017, aims to prepare the PSAP infrastructure for the introduction of pan-European eCall. It also intends to boost Member State investment in the PSAP infrastructure and interoperability of the service, prepare Member States for the deployment of eCall for Hazardous Goods Vehicles (including Dangerous Goods), Long Distance Buses, Coaches and  eCall for Powered Two Wheeled machines (PTW). The project will perform PSAP Conformity Assessments and looks at advancements in the management of data and next generation 112.

The I_HeERO project operates in 11 EU Member States (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia) and includes about 100 commercial partners and Associated Partners.

The leader of the I_HeERO project is the German State of Lower Saxony, under the authority of the German Ministry of Transport (BMVI). ERTICO-ITS Europe is responsible for I_HeERO’s Technical Implementation.

I_HeERO is funded under the Connected Europe Facility (CEF) Annual Programme – Grant agreement no. INEA/CEF/TRANS/A2014/1031743.

www.iheero.eu
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Contacts:

I_HeERO Technical Implementation Officer: Andy Rooke, ERTICO – ITS Europe, a.rooke@mail.ertico.co

I_HeERO Dissemination Manager: Maria De Rycke, ERTICO – ITS Europe, m.derycke@mail.ertico.com

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