Autonomous Vehicles: Europe at a Turning Point

19 December 2025

On 10 December, in the Spinelli Room of the European Parliament, MEP Pierfrancesco Maran (S&D) hosted the Autonomous Vehicles: Europe in the Driving Seat event, part of a series dedicated to European policy on automated driving. Bringing together stakeholders from more than 20 countries, the event delivered a clear message: 2026 is the pivotal year for Europe to develop its own autonomous vehicle technology rather than relying on solutions developed elsewhere, before risking that the gap with USA and China becomes unbridgeable.

The conference featured high-level speakers including Director-General Kerstin Jorna and Maria Cristina Galassi (DG GROW), who confirmed the Commission’s intention to complete the Level 4 regulatory framework by 2027, Genoa Mayor Silvia Salis—also representing the Mayors’ Coalition for Autonomous Driving—Anne-Marie Idrac (High Representative of the French Government), Antonio Erario (Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport), and Oliver Nahon (Swiss Association for Autonomous Mobility). Industry perspectives were shared by representatives from Waymo, Bolt, A2A, and Keolis Group.

MEP Maran highlighted three key priorities emerging from the discussions:

  1. From fragmentation to harmonisation
    Europe urgently needs a European Mobility Agency with specific competences on autonomous driving. Overcoming the stalemate created by 27 different traffic rules is essential to enable coordinated progress across the EU. The agency’s mandate should cover items such as: harmonization of traffic rules, data collection from all companies on autonomous-driving kilometers to monitor progress, and verification and streamlining of approval processes.
  2. Scaling up beyond pilots
    While the US and China have already logged more than 150 million autonomous kilometres, Europe remains stuck in small-scale pilots. Targeted funding for the software value chain, the removal of restrictions on “small series” production, and a clear exit from the prototyping phase are crucial to enable wider market adoption—echoing the recommendations of the Draghi report.
  3. Ensuring social and territorial inclusion
    Autonomous driving must not be limited to wealthy city centres. European legislation should promote integration with multimodal public transport systems to serve suburban and extra-urban areas, ensuring that automated mobility delivers tangible benefits for communities across Europe.

Source: read the summary by MEP Maran here: Linkedin.