The European Parliament’s Environment, Internal Market and Transport committees adopted a Joint Committee Report on 4 November 2026 that would create EU‑wide rules to ease testing and pre‑deployment of automated vehicles and automated driving systems (ADS). The report is part of the Parliament’s response to the Commission’s Automotive Omnibus package and targets fragmented national frameworks that currently govern trials on public roads.
What the committees proposed
The Joint Committee Report proposes two forms of mutual recognition. First, an authorisation issued by one Member State for testing or commercial deployment of automated or fully automated vehicles on public roads would be recognised across the EU, unless a Member State objects on road‑safety grounds within 30 working days. Second, authorisations for cross‑border testbeds would be automatically recognised by other participating Member States. The report specifically excludes commercial passenger transport services — such as robotaxi operations — from the mutual‑recognition scheme.
On type‑approval, the committees propose an “intermediate type‑approval” for fully automated vehicles used in commercial pre‑deployment and real‑world validation. That intermediate approval would be valid EU‑wide for three‑year terms, subject to quantitative annual limits, in‑use monitoring and other conditions, and would sit inside the existing small‑series framework under Article 41 of Regulation (EU) 2018/858. The report also proposes a “base‑stage EU type approval” for ADS‑ready hardware, allowing hardware to be approved independently from the ADS software and later integrated under a final‑stage approval.
Commission consults on adapting safety rules
Separately, the European Commission has opened a public feedback period on a draft delegated regulation to adapt motor vehicle safety requirements for fully automated vehicles. The draft aims to update delegated acts based on the General Safety Regulation so the EU type‑approval framework can better cover vehicles that operate in dual mode and those that cannot be driven manually at or above 6 km/h. The Commission’s consultation is open until 2 December 2026 (midnight Brussels time).
What this means for the market
If adopted by Parliament and agreed with the Council, the committee proposals would reduce administrative friction for constructors, suppliers and test operators running trials across multiple Member States by enabling a single authorisation to carry EU‑wide weight. The intermediate type‑approval and base‑stage hardware approval could speed commercial validation and allow manufacturers to certify hardware platforms independently of evolving ADS software stacks — a potential advantage for software‑defined vehicle programmes and third‑party ADS integrators. At the same time, the proposals keep safeguards such as annual limits and in‑use monitoring, and leave robotaxi passenger services to national passenger‑transport regimes, preserving a regulatory backstop for local authorities.
Next steps are political: the Parliament’s plenary is tentatively scheduled to vote on a negotiating mandate in mid‑December 2026; the Council must set its own position before trilogue talks can begin, likely in early 2027. The Commission’s simultaneous consultation on delegated safety acts means technical requirements and safety standards could move in parallel with the Parliament’s political mandate.
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Sources: Inside Global Tech, EU Agenda
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