Text tabled : A7-0205/2012

  Philippe Boulland (PPE), in writing. – (FR) I voted in favour of the report on the eCall system: a new ‘112’ service for citizens. This system constitutes a genuine technological advance: it enables an emergency call to be automatically triggered, whether the car is damaged or not, whilst sending out a message including key information about the accident, such as time, accurate location, driving direction, vehicle description and whether the passengers are conscious or not. This system, which can also be activated manually, functions on the basis of the single European emergency number 112 combined with the vehicle’s satellite positioning. According to estimations, the implementation of such a system in cars should save the lives of 2 500 EU citizens annually and reduce the severity of injuries by 10 to 15% due to better responsiveness from emergency services. The eCall system is dormant until an emergency call is triggered. The principles of privacy and protection of personal data are therefore fully respected, this being an essential condition for the system’s adoption. Furthermore, technological neutrality is guaranteed with eCall so that car manufacturers can remain free to choose the system they install in their vehicles.