Oral question to the Council on Road Safety (EP Strasbourg)

Publication date: 12 March 2009

Question time with the Council: Road safety (11-03-2009)

Question by Liam Aylward (UEN, IE)

According to the priorities of the Czech Presidency, the high number of people killed on European roads requires an enhancement of Europe-wide effort to improve road safety. What plans does the Presidency have to tackle this issue?

Alexandr Vondra (President-in-Office of the Council) responded by saying that “improvement of road safety and reducing the high number of fatal accidents on Community roads are among the priorities of the Czech Presidency for the transport sector. This is not surprising, as we are the country located right at the centre of the continent. Traffic intensity and the related dangers are a top priority for us.

Sharing the same concerns as you and with a view to improving the current situation in the short term, the Presidency intended to hold a ministerial debate at a Council meeting in spring 2009 on future development in the area of road safety in the context of the preparation of a new action plan on road safety. However, in view of the fact that the Commission has indicated to the Presidency its intention to postpone the date of the adoption of this new action plan, the Czech Presidency considers this debate to be premature.

One example of concrete action under our Presidency in the field of road safety is a final negotiation between the Council and the Parliament on a proposal for a regulation concerning type-approval requirements for the general safety of motor vehicles. As you know, the Presidency and Parliament’s representatives managed to reach an agreement concerning this proposal and the European Parliament adopted the regulation yesterday. The general safety regulation requires the mandatory fitting of electronic stability control systems on all vehicles, and an advanced emergency braking system and a lane-departure warning system on heavy duty vehicles. These new technologies can significantly improve vehicle safety and it is clear that road safety will benefit when they are introduced as the standard system on new vehicles.

Agreement at first reading will allow the obligatory introduction of electronic stability systems in new vehicles from 2011, one year earlier than foreseen in the original Commission proposal. Furthermore, the Council has just started the examination of the Commission’s action plan for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in Europe and the associated proposal for a directive laying down the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport. Both items have as one of their goals the improvement of road safety through the application of information and communication technologies to the road transport sector.

The Presidency intends to invite the Ministers to adopt the Council conclusions on the action plan at the Council meeting in March 2009 and a general approach or a political agreement on the abovementioned proposal at the Council meeting in June 2009. The role of the ITS in the area of road safety will also be discussed during the informal meeting of transport ministers to take place in late April in Litomìøice in my country.

Intelligent Transport Systems and applications such as emergency call and driver hyper-vigilance systems, speed alerts and alcohol locks could make a considerable contribution to enhancing our road safety. Electronic stability systems and eCall alone could save up to 6 500 lives a year in Europe if they are fully deployed. Given the importance the Presidency attaches to road safety, it will examine any other proposals on these issues that the Commission may present shortly, provided the limited time available until the end of June allows it.”

Sean O’Neachtain (UEN, IE) then asked what the biggest cause of deaths is on EU roads and what are the EU’s plans regarding the harmonisation of standards. Finally he called for the use of more tools than simply better technology?

Silvia-Adriana Þicãu (PSE, RO) then said that not enough is been done and asked what the council position is regarding cross-border issues.

Jim Higgins (EPP-ED, IE).then asked if the Council accepts that what we need are specific targets for each Member State in relation to reducing the numbers of deaths and fatalities on our roads.

“Secondly, would the Council accept that we need the enforcement of a system whereby, if an offence is committed in one jurisdiction, the offender can be prosecuted by the courts in that jurisdiction, even though the offender has returned to his or her native homeland?

Last, but by no means least, I welcome the Council’s information in relation to the eCall system, but when will it be mandatory in all Member Sates? It is vital from the point of view of accidents, and particularly one-vehicle accidents.”

Alexandr Vondra (President-in-Office of the Council) responded to these comments by saying that he understands how these issues are very important during the election campaign because everybody cares about this road safety problem. “I think we have to be aware of one thing, that the governments and the European Council in particular cannot be responsible for every single life on our roads. It is also and primarily the responsibility of the drivers behind the wheel.

But of course we need to focus on this issue and, again, for us it is among the priorities, so we need to move this discussion ahead. That is why we have selected this as one of the key items on the agenda of the informal Transport Ministers’ meeting at the end of April and certainly I will tell my colleague in my government, our Minister of Transport, how important this issue is for you, too.

The main topic of this informal meeting is the deployment of the Intelligent Transport System (ITS), in the EU. Road safety and security are certainly one of the six priority action areas which were identified by the Commission in this ITS action plan. We want to move the debate forward.”

Source: European Parliament