In accordance with Article 8 of Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council2 the Commission may request the European standardisation organisations (ESOs) to develop necessary standards to provide interoperability, compatibility and continuity for the deployment and operational use of ITS. Such standards are scoped by Articles 2 and 3, Article 4(1) and Annex I to Directive 2010/40/EU to specific priority areas and priority actions in the field of ITS. Annex I also stresses the need for urban and interurban interfaces for data exchange, and the interoperability and compatibility of the urban dimension within the overarching European ITS architecture.

The scope for implementation of the specifications already adopted under Article 6 of Directive 2010/40/EU3 is mainly the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). Nonetheless Directive 2010/40/EU acknowledges the need for urban-interurban interfaces enabling interoperability and continuity of services across networks and borders. Urban areas are identified as optional ‘priority zones’ for the implementation of the specifications for the provision of EU-wide real-time traffic information services. First and last miles of travellers' journeys usually take place within urban areas and are therefore essential for the provision of EU-wide multimodal travel information services contributing to seamless mobility.

Within the overarching ITS objectives set by Directive 2010/40/EU, the urban dimension has its own needs envisioned in the Action Plan on ITS (2008)4 and the Action Plan on Urban Mobility (2009)5. In 2010, the European Commission set up an Expert Group on urban ITS6, with the participation of representatives of local authorities and their main partners, from the fields of research, industry, transport authorities and operators, standardisation bodies, etc. This Expert Group on urban ITS developed Guidelines on the deployment of key applications of urban ITS (namely: multimodal information, smart ticketing, traffic management and urban logistics), collected a number of best practices and reflected upon the need for further standardisation in the domain of urban ITS.

In its Urban Mobility Package7 adopted in December 2013 the Commission restated the need to enhance the efficiency and safety of urban mobility and announced planned actions and recommendations for Member States in a number of areas, including: urban logistics, urban access regulations and road user charging, coordinated deployment of urban Intelligent Transport Systems, and urban road safety.

Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council8 requires that public authorities publish geographical information on the transport network. This digital network graph can be enhanced to be used as a common location referencing system for reliable ITS services. This enhancement should take into account pre-existing standards, in particular Geographic Data File (GDF)9.

In its Communication ‘Against lock-in: building open ICT systems by making better use of standards in public procurement’10 and accompanying Staff Working Document ‘Guide for the procurement of standards-based ICT — Elements of Good Practice’11, the Commission points to the benefits of using standards and open specifications to avoid vendor lock-in of technological solutions, and promote the deployment of more cost-effective solutions.

The intention to request European standards and European standardisation deliverables in support of Directive 2010/40/EU is stated in points 2.4.1012 and 3.3.813 of two consecutive annual Union work programmes for European standardisation.

The Commission has established guidelines14 for the execution of standardisation requests and the European standardisation organisations have agreed to apply those guidelines when executing standardisation requests.

The European standardisation organisations, the European standardisation stakeholders organisations receiving Union financing and the European ITS Committee established on the basis of Article 15 of Directive 2010/40/EU have been consulted.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012,