Operators of National Access Points (NAPs) and National Bodies (NBs) from 14 different countries met at the LEF Future Centre in Utrecht (The Netherlands) on 30 October 2019. Marinda Hall, LEF-facilitator, opened the workshop and introduced the organisers of the workshop, Timo Hoffmann (BASt) and Louis Hendriks (Rijkswaterstaat). The meeting was a follow-up of an earlier event in November 2018, when NAP operators and National Bodies also met in Utrecht during the ITS Forum 2018.
The fact that so many organisations turned up for the workshop shows that there is a need to exchange best practices, get operational support and find common issues worth working on jointly (e.g. legislation, harmonization, standards, formats, templates, …). The workshop also made clear that there is a large variety in the progress made with respect to the implementation of NAPs and establishment of National Bodies in the various EU countries. Even though quite a few participants stated that they have operational NAPs, it soon also appeared that the amount of data is not always satisfactory, especially if one looks at the amount of data provided by private organisations. For the National Bodies there are still questions about the assessment of compliance, the use of self-declarations, how to carry out random checks and last but not least how to report to the European Commission.
During this dynamic workshop a range of issues was discussed (see overview of topics here) and an agenda was created for priority issues to be dealt with in the future. If one thing became clear from the workshop, it was that there is a need for a more structural exchange between NAPs and NBs across Europe.
The LEF approach made it possible for more then 30 particpants to be much involved in lively discussions. This setup also fullfilled the need the give the NAP/NB community a boost to challenge future in close cooperation. Follow this link to the photos (photographer Gab Franken) to get an impression of this successful event.
At the end of the workshop it was agreed that a small group of participants will work on creating a NAP/NB position paper on a more structural organisation, describing among others the role, targets, objectives, connections, ambition, functions and a workplan for such an organisation. The idea is to set up a ‘light’ organisation (chair/secretariat) with working groups, 2 or 3 meetings per year and an IT infrastructure to share information.
If you want to know more about this NAP/NB Group or want to get involved, please contact Timo Hoffmann (HoffmannT@bast.de).
Read more about NAPs in Europe