Developments in the area of cyber-physical systems and their implications for the EU legislative agenda

Cyber-physical systems – machines or mechanisms controlled by increasingly intelligent, computer-based algorithms – are increasingly becoming part of our daily lives. There is much talk currently about the prospect of self-driving cars that might soon cruise on our streets, but even many of our current car models are already equipped with a multitude of increasingly autonomous devices that can sense and adapt to the environment, detect possible problems and make decisions for us, including when to turn on the lights, where to take a turn, when to brake or when to take a rest. Other examples include washing machines that automatically select the best washing cycle for us, machines that help us check into a hotel or hospital, or robots that mow our lawn. Not only are these machines becoming increasingly intelligent, autonomous and pervasive in the way they interact with us, they are also starting to interact with each other.

As the world we live in rapidly becomes crowded with a multitude of different cyber-physical systems, a wide range of legal issues will need to be re-examined and adapted to new realities.

Technological changes have nowadays accelerated to such a speed that increasingly law-making has difficulty catching up. STOA therefore recently conducted a foresight study in order to draw up possible scenarios to illustrate where developments in the area of cyber-physical systems might take us. Using these scenarios it was then possible to identify the areas of jurisdiction that should be addressed pro-actively, in order to reap the greatest possible benefits from the technical developments while avoiding, as far as possible, the negative consequences.

This briefing presents the conclusions for seven areas of policy that are of relevance to the work of the European Parliament, listing the issues that might have to be dealt with, the EP committees concerned, and the legislative acts that might need to be revisited. It is hoped that the briefing will give Members of the European Parliament a better overview of the various questions they will likely be confronted with in the coming years, allowing the EP to plan actions pro-actively rather than later having to react to some unforeseen event, accident or disaster.

The focus is on the identification of issues that will likely have to be dealt with. The briefing does not attempt to pre-judge what will eventually be the most appropriate instrument in each case. That might be new EU legislation, modification of existing legislation, legislation at national level or international conventions, or soft law approaches such as guidelines, codes of conduct, or standards potentially to be drawn up by professional associations or technical standardisation organisations such as the International Organization for Standardization ISO or European organisations such as CEN and CENELEC.

The final chapter discusses some of the ethical aspects of cyber-physical systems.