Page - (000168) - in Autonomes Fahren - Technische, rechtliche und gesellschaftliche Aspekte

Autonomous Driving – Political, Legal, Social, and Sustainability Dimensions156 currently is in Europe. They also give a picture of how autonomous driving technology is being framed and which other societal, technological, and political issues it is being linked to. Finally – and maybe most importantly – these documents hint at the opportunities for and obstacles to the wider implementation of autonomous vehicle technologies at the European level. 8.3.1.1 Competitiveness and Innovation The European Union has as one of its goals the strengthening of the competitiveness of European industry and technological leadership including in important sectors like trans- port. The European Union’s transport roadmap stresses that “innovation is essential” to maintaining European competitiveness. Three areas of innovation that are stressed are: “efficiency through new engines, material, and design”, “cleaner energy use”, and “safer and more secure operations through information and communication systems” [18]. The communication document from the European Commission to the Parliament and the Council with the title “Research and innovation for Europe’s future mobility. Develop- ing a European transport-technology strategy” [19] can be seen as the starting point for the development of a strategic transport-technology plan. At its visionary core is the expected change towards high value-added, innovative transport technologies. The transport indus- try of the future is expected to have to deal with highly complex mobility systems and to achieve this with a much lower carbon content. New materials, new production processes and new technology partners as well as “a stronger cross-fertilisation between the transport modes” are seen as crucial elements of this industry transition. The communication further stresses the expectation that the transport sector, the energy sector and information and communication technologies will be increasingly intertwined. With regard to the automotive industry, strengthening competitiveness is central to European policy-makers. This is reflected by the CARS 2020 Action Plan, which was de- veloped by DG ENTR (Directorate-general for Enterprise and Industry). The Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st century (CARS 21), the antecessor to CARS 2020, is concerned with overcoming the economic crisis in general and the crisis of the European automotive industry in particular. It sets a vision of: “An automotive industry that is leading in technology, in coordinated action with the fuel supplier industry, producing vehicles which are attractive to EU consumers, clean in terms of regulated pollutants, more fuel-efficient, safe, quiet and connected” [20]. 8.3.1.2 Efficiency and sustainability At the European level, innovation is often linked to the development of an energy and resource-efficient and sustainable transport system. The transport roadmap spells out “A vision for a competitive and sustainable transport system”. The document highlights the dual goal of increasing transport and mobility within the Union while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% until 2050. It further links EU 2020 and its flagship initiative on resource efficiency to transport policy. This translates into a transport system that must use “less and cleaner energy, better exploit a modern infrastructure and reduce its negative