Wednesday, July 15th, 2026
On 8 June 2026, 18 EU Member States signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to establish Large-scale Cross-border Testbeds for Autonomous Vehicles, marking an important step towards the coordinated deployment of automated transport services across Europe.
The initiative, launched under the European Automotive Action Plan, aims to accelerate the commercial pre-deployment of autonomous vehicles by harmonizing the regulatory framework, enabling cross-border testing and supporting the development of harmonised deployment conditions across Europe. The initiative covers two priority application domains, use cases on Freight Transport with Autonomous Trucks and use cases on Public Transport with Autonomous Buses.
The initiative comes as Europe seeks to strengthen its competitiveness in connected and automated mobility while accelerating the transition from research and demonstration projects to real-world deployment.
For ALICE and its Members committed to the Large-Scale Cross-Border Testbeds, the initiative represents an important milestone in Europe’s efforts to move from isolated pilot projects towards large-scale deployment of automated mobility and logistics solutions.
Autonomous driving is increasingly recognised as a strategic technology for the future competitiveness of Europe’s automotive and mobility sectors.
The European Automotive Action Plan identifies connected and automated vehicles as a key area where Europe must strengthen its position to remain globally competitive. The Action Plan highlights the need for large-scale cross-border testbeds, harmonised regulatory approaches and coordinated deployment activities to accelerate innovation and commercialisation.
The newly signed Joint Declaration provides a framework for participating Member States to work together on common approval procedures, permitting approaches and deployment principles. The objective is to create more predictable conditions for innovators, transport operators and investors while enabling automated vehicles to operate seamlessly across borders.
The initiative focuses on two priority application domains, freight transport with autonomous trucks and public transport with autonomous buses, allowing both areas to be developed and validated within a common European framework. From vehicle testing to automated transport services
One of the most significant aspects of the initiative is its focus on moving beyond vehicle testing towards the deployment of complete transport services.
The Joint Declaration recognises that successful automation requires a system-level perspective that considers not only vehicles but also digital infrastructure, transport operations, users, public authorities and logistics systems. Automated vehicles must be integrated into broader mobility and transport ecosystems before large-scale deployment can occur.
For freight transport and logistics, this is particularly relevant. Automated driving technologies are increasingly being tested in controlled environments, but commercial deployment requires harmonised operational procedures, regulatory certainty and interoperability across different jurisdictions. This reflects ALICE’s own position, set out in its February 2026 report on the ECAVA Autonomous Driving Working Group, that automation must be treated as a service and operations challenge rather than a vehicle technology question alone.
The initiative therefore combines regulatory workstreams with practical deployment activities, allowing Member States and stakeholders to develop real-world use cases while simultaneously addressing legal and operational barriers. This approach supports the gradual scaling of automated transport services from pilots to commercial operations.
The Joint Declaration explicitly recognises freight and logistics as one of the priority application areas for the testbeds. This is particularly significant because many freight automation initiatives remain limited to national pilots or controlled testing environments. The new framework creates opportunities to develop and validate automated freight services across borders under harmonised operational and regulatory conditions.
Participating Member States highlight the importance of involving transport operators, logistics stakeholders, regional authorities and industry in defining and implementing relevant use cases. The initiative encourages the development of scalable and transferable solutions that address operational needs while contributing to safer, more efficient and more sustainable transport systems.
For the logistics sector, automation offers significant opportunities to improve efficiency, address driver shortages, increase safety and optimise freight operations. However, many challenges remain, particularly regarding interoperability, cross-border operations, digital infrastructure requirements and regulatory consistency.
The creation of cross-border testbeds provides an opportunity to address these challenges in a coordinated manner while generating practical experience that can support future commercial deployment. The inclusion of freight as a named priority domain reflects sustained engagement by ALICE and its members with DG MOVE over recent months, aimed at ensuring logistics is treated as a core deployment domain rather than a secondary add-on.
The objectives of the initiative align closely with ongoing European research and innovation activities in connected, cooperative and automated mobility.
Through the CCAM Partnership and numerous Horizon Europe demonstration projects involving ALICE members, significant progress has already been made in developing automated driving technologies and testing operational concepts in real-world conditions.
The initiative also creates opportunities to build on experience gained through European freight automation projects such as MODI, which are already testing automated freight transport operations in real cross-border environments. At the same time, ALICE will ensure coordination and alignment of Large-Scale Cross-Border Testbeds initiative with other initiatives such as Large-Scale CCAM Demonstration, and European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance (ECAVA), bringing the needs and priorities of the freight and logistics sector into these efforts to help scale automation.
ALICE has actively contributed to discussions on freight transport automation through its Road Freight Automation activities and the CCAM Logistics Task Force, bringing together logistics service providers, technology developers, infrastructure stakeholders and research organisations to explore pathways towards deployment.
The new cross-border testbed initiative creates an important opportunity to connect these research and innovation activities with future deployment programmes and operational use cases.
The signing of the Joint Declaration marks the beginning of a new phase for automated mobility in Europe.
The initiative establishes a framework for Member States to cooperate on vehicle approvals, deployment procedures, operational requirements and large-scale testing activities. At the same time, it creates opportunities for freight and logistics stakeholders to participate in shaping future automated transport services.
For ALICE, the initiative represents an important step towards creating the conditions needed for the safe, efficient and scalable deployment of automated freight transport solutions across Europe. ALICE will continue its engagement with DG MOVE on the Large-Scale Cross-Border Testbeds initiative, with a focus on translating this freight inclusion into concrete deployment opportunities supported by member corridors, public authorities, road operators and operational expertise.
As the initiative moves into implementation, continued collaboration between public authorities, industry, technology providers, logistics operators and research organisations will be essential to transform promising technologies into commercially viable transport services.
Related document: European Automotive Action Plan https://transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/89b3143e-09b6-4ae6-a826-932b90ed0816_en?filename=Communication%20-%20Action%20Plan.pdf