Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-08-Speech-3-133"
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"en.20031008.12.3-133"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the rapporteur’s amendments to the Commission proposal are excellent, and the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats endorses them. Most of the amendments tabled by Mr Rack are intended on the one hand, to prescribe realistic safety standards for tunnels, and, on the other, to avoid the system for responsibility for implementation of common safety standards becoming too complicated and bureaucratic. I believe that he deserves particular credit for this.
As the rules on the safety of tunnels tend very much to have been drafted with the tunnels in the Alps and similar areas in mind, but would make for major problems with traffic flow in those tunnels belonging to the trans-European transport network that run through towns and cities, we endorse the rapporteur’s proposal that the administrative authorities be empowered to grant derogations from the general regulations for special tunnels in urban areas, as the minimum intervals – of 100 metres between HGVs, for example – would result in substantial tailbacks and hence in greater damage to the environment in tunnels in cities, the tunnel under the Elbe in Hamburg being one example. Similar considerations apply in the case of the obligatory examination of HGVs equipped with additional tanks before they enter a tunnel, which, thank God, is to be dropped as a result of the rapporteur’s vote.
Let me conclude by saying that the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats endorses the demand that building work to improve the safety of tunnels should receive general financial support from the TENs budget, as such measures could well overstretch the financial resources of individual Member States, and as improved safety in tunnels belonging to the trans-European transport network is in the interest of all citizens of the EU. If I may put that in more specific terms, Commissioner, most tunnels are situated in that lovely country, Italy, and if Italy were to bear alone the cost of making transport safe, it would make for a problem for us all. That being so, I believe it to be important that the Community should – Mr Swoboda is catching my eye at this point – use TENs funds to cover a share of the work on improving tunnels in those countries that have long ones, as the reason why we want to improve the tunnels that these countries provide – whether we are talking here about Austria, Italy or even Switzerland and France – is the safety of those who travel through them, who are not only Italians and Austrians, but also many Danes, Germans and people from the Netherlands. This means that this aspect of finance is one that we should particularly take into account. Again, though, many thanks, Mr Rack, for your outstanding report."@en1
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