Jaguar Land Rover and Renault are the frontrunners to support the European Union’s (EU) plan for the standardisation and harmonisation of autonomous vehicle technology.

The 28 EU Member States met at the EU Council of Ministers meeting in Amsterdam, Netherlands yesterday to discuss the importance of legal and technical standardisation and harmonisation relating to the legality of testing, selling and liability associated with autonomous vehicles. EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc met the 28 EU Transport Ministers, under the Dutch EU presidency, to work toward eliminating regulatory and technical barriers around autonomous driving.  The vehicles were used in a demonstration during the event, driving the Ministers autonomously in real traffic conditions.

Dr Wolfgang Epple, director of Research and Technology, Jaguar Land Rover, said, “We are all working on exciting autonomous driving technologies. To successfully deliver these technologies industry needs a common approach between carmakers, mobile telecom providers and providers of roadside infrastructure systems. This will allow standardisation and harmonisation, enabling cars to communicate with each other and the roadside infrastructure around them efficiently and effectively. It allows Jaguar Land Rover to deliver technologies that are relevant, accessible and affordable to customers.”

Also commenting on the EU proposal was Rémi Bastien, head of Prospective Autonomous Driving, Renault-Nissan Alliance: “Today marks a new chapter in the potential for autonomous driving vehicles on the road. Renault is pleased to be working closely with industry partners, competitors and legislators to help ensure a safe and stressless future on the road.”

Apart from carmakers, Netherlands-based auto tech supplier TomTom also collaborated with the PSA Group for the EU meet. Antoine Saucier, managing director for TomTom Automotive commented, “TomTom is delighted that the Dutch presidency is taking the initiative to accelerate innovation and development around autonomous driving in the EU. We are excited to work with PSA Group to support this event and to play a role in enabling the automotive industry to move closer to making autonomous driving a reality.”