EU-wide coordination is used to promote the use of intelligent transport systems in road transport.
The ITS Directive
The purpose of the ITS Directive (2010/40/EU) (External link) of the European Parliament and of the Council is to establish a framework for the coordinated and coherent deployment and utilisation of intelligent transport systems (ITS) in the EU and especially across the borders of its member states.
The ITS Directive includes six priority actions (A–F) that will be provided with more specific definitions and standards prior to their deployment. After the publication of the Directive, the European Commission has issued delegated regulations that pertain to these priority actions and that have entered into force on a gradual basis since 2013.
Due to the gradual nature of this process, Finnish road maintenance providers and authorities have focused on enacting the necessary measures to ensure their compliance with the acts that have entered into force at any given time. The regulations focus primarily on the EU-wide road network, or TEN-T network, but to some extent also on the entire road network within EU.
Priority actions and delegated regulations
The following national access points and information services are available in Finland for the distribution of traffic information covered by the delegated regulations:
The access points for EU member states are listed on the website of the European Commission. (External link)
Declaration of compliance
To ensure the implementation of the delegated regulations, each member state (in Finland, the Ministry of Transport and Communications) must assess whether its road authorities, digital map providers and service providers meet the requirements presented in the regulations. In Finland, the appointed authority for this task is the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom. The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom may inspect the services provided by public and private operators and request for proof that they are able to meet the requirements presented in the regulations.
The operators can declare the compliance of their activities by providing Traficom with a declaration of compliance document.
The recommended method for providing the declaration of compliance is with a ready-made template.
You can download the necessary template from the links below:
1. Introduction letter, explanatory note and ITS Action B-compliant templates (2 pcs) (External link) (external link)
2. ITS Action C-compliant template (External link) (external link)
The declaration of compliance must be submitted to the Registry Office of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency.