The European Parliament adopted by 538 votes to 126, with 10 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the deployment of the interoperable EU-wide eCall.
Parliament adopted its position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure. The amendments adopted at plenary are the result of an agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council. They amended the proposal as follows:
The co-legislators agreed that Member States should deploy on their territory, at least six months before the date of application of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the type-approval requirements for the deployment of the eCall in-vehicle system and in any case no later than 1 October 2017, the eCall PSAP infrastructure required for the proper receipt and handling of all eCalls.
The main aim should be to ensure the full functionality, compatibility, interoperability, continuity and conformity of the service throughout the Union.
Depending on the organisation of the handling of emergency calls in each Member State, such calls can be first received under the responsibility of a public authority or a private organisation recognised by the Member State concerned.
Moreover, the amended text stipulated that:
- the processing of personal data in the context of handling eCalls fully complies with the personal data protection rules provided for in Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and in Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- data transmitted via the eCall service are used exclusively for the attainment of the objectives of this Decision;
- the handling of eCalls is provided free of charge to users of the EU-wide eCall service;
- eCalls can originate from anywhere in their territory, provided there is at least one public mobile wireless communications network available.
Since not all Union citizens are familiar with the use of the EU-wide eCall service, its deployment should be preceded by an awareness-raising campaign supported by the Commission, explaining to citizens the benefits, functionalities and data protection safeguards of the new system.
The campaign should take place in Member States and should aim at informing users on how to use the system properly and how to avoid false alarms.