3. The Director of the Sustainable Transport Division, Mrs. H. Meesters, addressed the Working Party GRVA following her recent appointment and recalled her longstanding engagement with ECE transport activities, most recently as Chair of the Inland Transport Committee. She congratulated GRVA on its longstanding contributions to vehicle safety and recalled the recent adoption of the regulatory framework for automated driving systems. The Director shared several reflections with GRVA, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding the Inland Transport Committee legal instruments for the future and highlighting the ongoing reform process within the United Nations and ECE. She acknowledged the efficiency and dedication of the UNECE secretariat despite limited resources. In this context, she outlined her intention to pursue more stable funding arrangements, including alternative financing mechanisms. The newly appointed Chief of the Vehicle Regulations, Road Traffic Safety and Transport Innovations Section also addressed GRVA, recalling his experience in the field of vehicle automation adjacent work and their policy implications. He noted that he had witnessed the adoption of the regulatory framework by WP.29 during the first session he attended and stressed the need to provide sufficient runway to adapt and prepare for future developments. The Chair of GRVA emphasized that the Working Party had delivered on a number of strategic issues and noted that these achievements would not have been possible without the support of the secretariat.

4. GRVA considered the provisional agenda prepared for its twenty-sixth session (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRVA/2026/23). GRVA adopted it as reproduced in informal document GRVA-26-02/Rev.1, which includes references to all informal documents received until 18 September 2026. (All informal documents considered during the session are listed in annex I to this report. Annex II provides the list of Informal Working Groups (IWGs) reporting to GRVA.)

5. The Chair informed GRVA that he would not seek re-election for the 2027 sessions. GRVA took note of this information and thanked him for his leadership during the last six years. GRVA agreed to proceed with agenda item 13 solely for the election of Vice-Chairs. GRVA further agreed to inform the Administrative Committee for the Coordination of Work (AC.2) and WP.29 at their November 2026 sessions before initiating the election process for the Chair of the 2027 sessions at the next session.

6. GRVA also agreed on the running order prepared for the session (see informal document GRVA-26-01/Rev.2).