As I approach my 70th year it is a time for reflection and thought. It doesn’t seem 52 years ago (longer, if I count the times I worked on the vans during school holidays) when I started working in the family removals & storage business. For most of this time I specialised in European traffic although as a company we covered all aspects. I can remember having to crane our trucks on to ships as roll on roll off facilities were very limited across the Channel & North Sea. TIR Carnets were needed for most journeys to the Continent, later replaced by T-forms on EU work. It was not unusual to spend several days at the final compound clearing through customs. Motorways were few and far between as were other British trucks – so it was quite an occasion when meeting up with a fellow Brit! 

Today we see thousands of trucks crossing the Channel daily and news of even 24-hour delays soon reaches the media. Tolls & road charging have crept in as have emission controls but, for the most part, traffic is now free-flowing across the borders between EU Member States. 

Our fathers and grandfathers would have witnessed even bigger changes as they moved from hitching up horses to their pantechnicon and tunnel carts, through to steam driven traction engines and on to petrol driven vans. 

Change is inevitable as engineers improve vehicles and politicians introduce yet new laws to deal with the issues at hand. Digitalisation is now about to usher in another historic revolution in the field of mobility – automated and connected driving. We’re told that real time vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure data communication will make traffic flows predictable, combat congestion and reduce accidents as well as presenting enormous potential for growth and prosperity.  

However, it will not be possible to fully harness this potential unless appropriate steps to establish a harmonised regulatory framework are taken to enable the safe deployment of these innovative technologies across national borders. 

I can already hear people shouting that we haven’t even got harmonised rules on low emissions, road charging or cabotage throughout Europe – so what chance have we got with autonomous and connected vehicles and the legal complexities that such developments will bring about. 

Fundamental issues regarding the role and obligations of drivers will have to be resolved. Moreover, the technologies will have to be reliable enough in a timely manner so that they are safe in every respect: the ‘reliability’ aspect being a basic prerequisite for ensuring that the digital mobility revolution is a success in all areas. For example, regarding automated driving: 

are of outstanding significance and will require sustained cooperation between national transport ministers, the European Commission’s transport DG’s and the UN World Forum. 

Higher automated functions will probably be first used on motorways. Based on lessons learnt, they will gradually find their way into more complex fields of application and ultimately also be deployed in urban and regional transport. 

One thing’s certain - before we all get too far ahead of ourselves by simply focussing on the development and trials of driverless vehicles and convoys of remotely driven lorries – the road transport industry, already one of the most legislated industries, will have to face yet more legislation and complex rules. 

The European Commission expects as early as next year to propose EU rules which will apply to ‘connected vehicles’ – vehicles that can communicate wirelessly with other vehicles, devices and infrastructure. A consultation on the regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services ran from September to 7 December. A report on the consultation is expected in January 2016. A second consultation covered the free-flow of data and cloud computing.  

However, EU officials warn that the complexity of autonomous vehicle regulation means a legislative framework for driverless vehicles remains distant. One key topic is the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation currently scheduled for agreement at the end of this year and enactment in 2017 or 2018. We should have a clear picture of the GDPR by the time any connected vehicle rules are announced: it remains to be seen how the GDPR will interplay with the proposed connected car rules and the overall impact on connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) adoption. 

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Time and space do not allow me to delve into the many questions linked to the legal challenges of operating autonomous vehicles alongside existing vehicles and the many other issues facing us all in the future. 

CAV technologies promise significant economic benefits, but unlocking these benefits will demand substantial effort on the part of Europe’s regulators, no doubt accompanied by some significant legal challenges to overcome: a challenge for the next generation. 

For my part, in addition to a lifetime in the industry, mainly on the operational front, I’ve been personally involved for well over 25 years with monitoring legal issues, fighting our corner by lobbying at European and national levels, writing up reports, explanations and information, in particular regarding issues of concern to the industry – but as Groucho Marx once said, “There's one thing I always wanted to do before I quit ... retire!" 

But before stepping aside, I want to thank all those hard-working colleagues that I have served alongside, the many that have helped me along the way, the individual characters and many friends that I have met – and, last but not least, my wife and family for having been so generous in allowing me to devote the time that this very onerous industry demands of us all.