15/06/2013
As we
saw recently, the European Commission never gives up. Ten years down the line it is still pushing its Single European Sky, and it will keep pushing until it gets there.
Evidence of that persistence now comes with its
eCall system which was first proposed in 2002 and expected to be commissioned in 2009, and is running years late. Undeterred, though,
this week the Commission, with its usual hubris, launched its latest attempt to get the system running.
We actually started writing about it
2005, shortly after the blog started, and even then it looked suspicious. On the face of it, it is a terrific idea. Cars are fitted with a GPS system and a mobile phone and, in the event of a crash, it automatically generates an emergency mobile phone call to the emergency services. The system informs the services of the vehicle location, thus enabling a rapid response.
The big deal is that, once the system is fitted, it can have many purposes. All the elements are there for continuous vehicle tracking, and even behaviour monitoring. Go over the speed limit, or do a U-turn in the wrong place, and the ticket could be in the post.
The Commission says the system is in "sleep mode" at all times, unless triggered by crash sensors, or by a dashboard button. And doubtless, when the system goes live in 2015 â as is now intended â that will be the case. All new cars from that date will have to be fitted with the kit, at a cost of about â¬100, and it will be used as advertised.
But governments being what they are, will not be able to resist the temptation to extend the use. Possibly, they will start via the insurance companies, which will offer cheaper deals if you agree to switch on permanently, so that driver behaviour can be monitored. Then it will become so expensive to get insurance without it, that everyone will have to opt in.
You can see where it goes from there, especially as the kit is also exactly that needed to make a GPS-driven road toll system work. Give it a few years, with a high proportion of cars fitted, and the revenue-extraction potential becomes so attractive that the members states will be lining up to convert the systems.
Oddly enough, the US had a private sector system up and running
17 years ago, on private subscription, so none of these "mission creep" issues arise. But in dirigiste Europe, it has to be a state system, the start of a "spy in the cab" that will eventually have us monitored and controlled during every journey we make, with charging to follow soon thereafter.
Typically, these will be a slow-motion developments. In ten years, they will still be rolling this out and talking about it, and everyone will have gone back to sleep. But the thing is, the Commission never sleeps. It may grind slow, but it grinds exceeding thorough. And it never,
never gives up.
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