Automated mobility: fostering deployment and a strong EU role
Connected and automated mobility (CCAM) has long been on the EU policy agenda, as a technological answer to a political need: keeping mobility available for people and goods while easing the pressure road transport puts on our society, from accidents to resource depletion and inefficiencies. In building its vision for the future of mobility, the EU has also tried to ensure that societal benefits and private interests go hand in hand. Our research shows why this matters in practice: only if automated mobility is integrated into local transport policies can we avoid, for example, a massive increase in the energy intensity of road transport.
This is why, over the years, the European Commission has taken a leading role worldwide in building the international regulatory framework for the type-approval of Automated Driving Systems, paving the way for their large-scale introduction on the road. It started with motorway use-cases in 2021, continued with the first EU framework for urban and peri-urban applications in 2022, expanded to supervised automated systems in 2025, and led, early this year, to the first general worldwide harmonised framework covering all types of automated driving systems. The framework sets out the process a manufacturer must follow to prove that an automated system introduces no additional risk for its occupants or other road users — so that deploying automated mobility services does not come at any extra cost to road safety. The JRC put all its experience and expertise into making this framework robust, and we are proud to have helped the Commission and the other UNECE Contracting Parties reach this milestone.
But this is not the end: the real journey is only starting. Once the rules for placing automated driving systems on the market are in place, the next step is to make sure they can be deployed seamlessly across EU roads, and that the technology behind them has enough EU content to stimulate our industry and protect our citizens.
To make this happen, the 2025 Automotive Action Plan commits the Commission to setting up a “large-scale cross-border testbed” to foster the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles and services across Europe. The testbed brings together Member States that sign a Declaration of Intent to allow, through regulation, and enable, operationally, the deployment of fully automated vehicles on public roads for commercial services, through a common approach. Today, the 27 EU Member States take very different approaches to such deployment, which works against building a solid business case for industry. Aligning national traffic rules would help, but it takes time — so the testbed offers a faster route to large-scale, harmonised deployment. It will launch soon, focusing first on public transport and freight and logistics, where societal benefits are significant and coordinated EU action can give industry the scale and market certainty it needs to invest. The JRC will support the Commission in monitoring the roll-out, to ensure it delivers benefits for society without unintended negative effects.
The testbed targets vehicles with sufficient EU content — not as a market restriction, which would sit uneasily with EU values, but as a result of a competitive European industry. To support this in a period of real volatility, the JRC, on behalf of DG RTD, with the CCAMbassador project, is developing the Global CCAM Observatory to track how the global industrial CCAM ecosystem is evolving and help identify the most promising areas for European operators to invest in.
CCAM is a game changer, but the change will not happen overnight. Our ambition, from inside the European Commission, is to steer this change so that it delivers the greatest possible benefit for society and for European industry alike.
Biagio Ciuffo, Deputy Head, Sustainable, Smart and Safe Mobility Unit, European Commission Joint Research Centre
Renowned expert in transportation engineering with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and several science for policy projects successfully managed. Launched pioneering research programs on Connected and Automated Mobility and the JRC Living Labs for Future Mobility Solutions. Award-winning researcher with multiple prizes from the US National Academy of Science’s Transportation Research Board. Key contributor to European and International Regulations on Sustainable and Smart Mobility
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