30 Signatories in Support for European Coordination on Emergency Caller Location Information Criteria

30 signatories have launched a position paper on the importance of European coordination on the parameters for setting accuracy and reliability criteria for emergency caller location information in the delegated regulation supplementing the requirements of the European Electronic Communications Code.

On 14 November 2018, the entry into force of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) marked a new milestone in the history of European legislation on 112. As per the legislative requirements (Article 109(8)) of the EECC, the European Commission must adopt delegated acts in order to supplement the legislation to the ensure compatibility, interoperability, quality, reliability and continuity of emergency communications in the EU. A draft delegated regulation was published by the European Commission on 08 August 2022, and must be adopted by 21 December 2022.

EENA and the signatories of this position paper would like to express their concerns over Article 3 of the draft delegated regulation. Article 3 sets out parameters that must be taken into account by the competent regulatory authorities when setting the criteria for the accuracy and reliability of caller location information.

The signatories of this position paper believe that these criteria must be coordinated at a European level. A lack of coordination could potentially result in 27 different sets of criteria, and therefore diverging regulatory requirements across the EU. This scenario would not be in the interest of EU citizens whose personal safety might be better protected in one Member State when compared to another. This would also add complexity for solutions providers and impact the overall effectiveness of emergency communications in the EU.

To that end, the signatories of this paper call on the relevant European institutions to strive for a harmonised approach between the different Member States when laying down accuracy and reliability criteria. This is achievable through defining a minimum threshold through coordination at a European level.

For full details and signatories, you can read our position paper here.

For more information on our advocacy work, including our response to the public consultation on the BEREC draft work programme 2023, see our Policy & Advocacy page.