Some 80 percent of the cars on sale in Europe at this moment do not possess AEB technology, and the EC doesn't wish to force it on manufacturers and citizens all at once, an official said. So instead, the European New Car Assessment Program--a seven-nation consortium that does crash-test rating for European autos--is simply gong to make it more or less impossible for a car to receive a five-star safety rating without AEB technology on board. That's called forcing without appearing to force, but hey--if the technology really can reduce accidents and improve road safety, maybe a strong nudge toward universal adoption isn't such a bad thing.