'European approach' to the testing of connected and autonomous vehicles moves forward

The countries, together with industry, committed to the plans at the Frankfurt International Motor Show, according to the European Commission.

The 'Nordic Way' testing is due to take place on roads that link cities such as Oslo, Malmo, and Stockholm, as well as Turku and Helsinki in Finland. The Nordic Way scheme is the latest cross border project for supporting CAV testing in Europe, which other testing programmes in place across areas of Spain and Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium, and France, Germany and Luxembourg, as well as between northern Norway and north-west Finland.

To support cross border testing of CAV, 27 EU member states have called on the European Commission to develop a 'European approach' to testing.

In a joint statement, three EU commissioners called for the swift adoption of new telecoms regulations, as well as other measures, by EU law makers to support such an approach.

"We have an opportunity we cannot miss: Europe can lead in the field of connected mobility, but for this, all member states and industry have to work together closely and move into the same direction," commissioners for transport, Violeta Bulc, budget and human resources, Günther Oettinger, and the digital economy, Mariya Gabriel, said.

"Connected and automated mobility builds on the digital single market strategy and is an integral part of the Commission's strategy on low emission mobility and the 2018 Mobility Package. We therefore need to advance quickly with all relevant proposals under these strategies, above all the updated EU telecoms rules to boost investments in high-speed and quality networks and the Commission's masterplan on cooperative intelligent transport services.

Therefore, we call on co-legislators to act swiftly on all proposals already presented."