OCTOBER 5, 2023

THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE (ECJ) HAS ANNOUNCED THE DECISION ON THE CLAIM FROM ATU AND CARGLASS AGAINST FCA ON THE ACCESS TO OBD PORT AND THE SECURITY GATEWAYS.

AS PRESENTED BY THE EUROPEAN GARAGE EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATION (EGEA):

"According to the ECJ's decision, vehicle manufacturers may not make access subject to conditions not provided for in Regulation (EU) 2018/858. The ECJ confirms the view of the two plaintiffs, according to which vehicle manufacturers are prevented from arbitrarily setting special requirements and thus interfering with the legally regulated right of access. In particular, the ECJ also clarified that vehicle manufacturers may not link access to prior registration and the existence of an internet connection to their server. The use of a "secure gateway" with the aforementioned characteristics is therefore not permitted.

Furthermore, the ECJ clarified that vehicle manufacturers may not limit access to the OBD port to read-only access, contrary to the view of FCA Italy. Vehicle manufacturers must also allow independent operators to access the vehicle data stream in write mode.

The decision concerns the (supposed) tension between competition and (cyber) security and has an importance far beyond the specific case. The ECJ's decision contributes significantly to legal clarity and confirms that measures to ensure vehicle security must be implemented in such a way that competition is not impaired."

The judgment is available at https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=278243&pageIndex=0&doclang=DE&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=3561293