EU – EENA is encouraged that the topics of the European Emergency Number 112 and eCall were raised by the European Parliament during the Hearings of the European Commission candidates (EP Hearings 2014), and welcomes the initiative of the European Parliament to address these important issues.
Mrs. Elzbieta Bienkowska, candidate Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, was asked to give her opinion on eCall and its significance. She confirmed her support and willingness to advance on eCall. It was acknowledged that eCall is a tool that can save many lives in the EU and that is should be prioritised by the new European Commission.
Mr. Andrus Ansip, candidate Vice-President of the Commission for the Digital Single Market, was asked to confirm his willingness to progress on the problematic implementation of the Universal Service Directive, the caller location requirements of Member States in case of emergency calls, and the awareness levels of the common European emergency number 112 among European citizens, with a mere 27% being aware of it.
While the question referred to the European emergency number, Mr. Ansip paid attention on eCall instead, supporting eCall systems as a priority.
Even though eCall represents a significant topic, EENA was disappointed that not enough emphasis was given on 112 and the Universal Service Directive. We would like to see clear next steps as to how the abovementioned problematic implementation of the Universal Service Directive is going to be dealt with by the new European Commission.
Overall, we welcome the fact that the European Parliament addressed the issues of 112 and eCall as important. Nevertheless, although the support of the new European Commission is encouraging, EENA would like to see concrete steps of action in order to advance on these issues.
For the hearing of candidate Commissioner Mrs. Elzbieta Bienkowska, please click here.
For the hearing of candidate Vice-President Mr. Andrus Ansip, please click here.