ETRMA joins call for ‘urgent’ legislation on access to in-vehicle data

Brussels – The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) has renewed a call for an 'urgent and effective' sector-specific legislation on access to in-vehicle data.

In a 24 Jan letter to the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the Independent Service Providers (ISPs) – which also includes ETRMA – urged the Commission to “put an end to repeated delays” in proposing a legislation on access to in-vehicle data, functions and resources.

Doing so, said the grouping of automotive aftermarket and service suppliers, would “unleash the untapped potential to create real competition in Europe’s data-driven automotive and mobility markets.”

According to the letter, in December 2020, the Commission committed to bringing forward access to in-vehicle data legislation by the end of 2021.

“We’re now in 2023 and the proposal has been delayed yet again,” the letter noted.

“Despite six years of painstaking Commission evidence-gathering and previous strategic policy plans, the vast majority of the sector are left in limbo,” the ISPs said.

Investment decisions, the letter went on to say, are being delayed in the face of “substantial market barriers” which it said, benefit "just one segment of a potentially huge market.”

Urging the Commission to "get the process back on track", the signatories said  the legislation was “vital” to unblock the automotive and mobility services sector market.

According to the joint letter, the European Commission has previously set a series of “market-enabling legislations” from telecoms to aviation, rail and energy.

The moves in the past have addressed significant market distortions and enabled "a more vibrant and competitive European internet economy that is not captive to a few dominant players."

However, the letter noted that despite “all the evidence gathered over the last six years”, the European automotive and mobility ecosystem “continues to face all the same market barriers and distortions."

These, it said, include "the increasing dependency on the technology platforms of the hyperscalers.”

ETRMA has been repeatedly calling for creating a "level playing field" for automotive suppliers and aftermarket service providers through the in-vehicle data access legislation.