Aspen Institute CE co-organized a conference Driving Europe Forward: The Future of Mobility on June 28, 2017 at European Parliament in Brussels. ACE’s president Ivan Hodáč and Dita Charanzová (ACE’s board member and MEP) debated with the State Secretary of Belgium Philippe de Backer, the European Commissioner on Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete and other European policymakers.

As part of the Digital Single Market and the Single Market Strategies and the Union’s general move towards the electrification of mobility, EU policies towards adapting to and accommodating for new advances in mobility have become extremely topical, in particular for drivers and other consumers. The purpose of this event was to engage policymakers and citizens in the debates surrounding the future of auto mobility, namely new electric and autonomous vehicles.

This conference focused on the two main areas that are defining and transforming cars as we know them – data-driven and environmentally sustainable vehicles. Innovation and research into both of these sectors of auto mobility are already underway, and EU legislators are beginning to work on and consider how Europe will adapt and contribute to these new realities. Although great advances are being made in both areas, they are rarely discussed in conjunction with one another. This conference therefore looked into both areas, and more generally at the larger picture of where we are headed with these new technological advancements, how consumers can fully benefit of the new developments and how the EU could and should play a role.

The conference furthermore had a concrete example on display of how an industry, in this instance the Formula E race car industry, has adapted to this future. The event was co-organized by ALDE.

Video stream

Speakers

• Dita Charanzová, MEP, Coordinator for the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) , ALDE Group
• Philippe de Backer, State Secretary for the Fight Against Social Fraud, Privacy and the North Sea, Federal Government of Belgium
• Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner, Climate Action and Energy, European Commission
• Ivan Hodáč, President, Aspen Institute CE
• Maja Bakran Marcich, Deputy Director-General, DG MOVE, European Commission
• Carl Friedrich Eckhardt, Head of Centre of Competence for Urban Mobility, BMW Group
• Karim Lesina, Vice President for International External Affairs, AT&T
• Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director General, DG Environment, European Commission
• Kurt Lehmann, Corporate Technology Officer, Continental
• Joost Vantomme, Smart Mobility Director, European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), European Commission
• Maarten Linnenkamp, Project Manager, Electric Transport Consultant, Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam