The Informal Working Group on Prioritization adopted draft terms of reference for submission to AC.2 and WP.29, with endorsement planned for November 2026 and adoption in March 2027. The group discussed amendments to the terms of reference, including proposals by Sweden and the United Kingdom regarding wording and introductory verbs. Document IWG-Prio-02-04 on prioritization was approved for tabling to WP.29 and AC.2, then distribution to each GRX as a new agenda entry to enable WP.29 members to evaluate priorities from a consolidated numbered list.

Proposed Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedures for the AC.2/WP.29 Informal Group on Prioritization. The IWG-Prio shall develop recommendations on prioritizing activities based on alignment with strategies, regulatory urgency, safety and environmental benefits, resource implications, duplication avoidance, interested parties, and governance of legal instruments. The IWG-Prio shall conduct high-level review of ongoing and proposed activities, develop recommendations regarding initiation and continuation of regulatory activities, identify opportunities to improve efficiency of WP.29 activities including coordination among groups and meeting scheduling, and provide a framework for common understanding of prioritization. The IWG-Prio shall prepare recommendations for non-binding guidance material and proposed procedures for consideration by AC.2 and WP.29 no later than their November 2028 session. The IWG-Prio shall be placed under WP.29, open to all WP.29 participants, chaired by one of the Vice-Chairs of WP.29, and shall operate in English with decisions reached by consensus.

Draft agenda for the Informal Working Group on Prioritization meeting scheduled for Friday 30 October 2026. The agenda covers adoption of the agenda, draft terms of reference with documents IWG-Prio-02-02 and IWG-Prio-02-03 including a consolidation of comments and proposal for amendments by Sweden, prioritization through creation of a consolidated numbered list of all GR priorities for WP.29 members to rank by importance to identify common agreement on high and lower priority work items and potential items to pause, list of actions, date and place of next meeting, and any other business.

Sweden proposes to amend the draft terms of reference to: replace “criteria” with “principles” for prioritization, add injury reduction and technology maturity as considerations, move alignment with ITC and WP.29 strategies to the first consideration point, add governance of existing legal instruments as a consideration, exclude available resources and workload from the high-level review stage, require resource consideration during recommendations, replace “develop” with “provide a framework for” regarding common understanding of prioritization, place the IWG-Prio under WP.29 only, specify reporting to WP.29 without mandatory AC.2 reporting, and when consensus cannot be achieved, bring differing views to AC.2 for deliberations before WP.29 reporting.