Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-19-Speech-3-272"
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"en.20081119.21.3-272"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in fact, in 1988 the Commission proposed a directive on the maximum rate of blood-alcohol permitted for drivers, but in the absence of an agreement between the Member States and the Commission, the Commission had to content itself with adopting, on 17 January 2001, a recommendation that a maximum rate of 0.5 mg/ml be imposed in all the Member States. Today, in the European Union, only three Member States, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom, have maximum rates of blood alcohol greater than that value.
Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately more cannot be done, but I hope that I have been comprehensive in answering your oral question.
The recommendation of the Commission also envisaged lowering the blood-alcohol rate to 0.2 mg/ml for certain categories of driver, including learners, who are the subject of the first question posed by the honourable Member. In fact, learner drivers are the main victims of danger on the roads and therefore it is vital to reduce as far as possible the risk factors in relation to them, for instance, by permitting for this category a blood-alcohol rate no greater, as I have said, than 0.2 mg/ml. This is linked to the measure known as ‘zero rate’, laid down for this category of driver in the communication adopted by the Commission in October 2006 and which lays down a strategy to support the Member States to reduce the damage caused by alcohol.
Ladies and gentlemen, given this background, the Commission unfortunately does not consider that the political conditions are in place that would allow the adoption by the Member States of a piece of legislation designed to further harmonise the level of blood-alcohol permitted within the EU. Having said that, the Commission does not intend to remain inactive with regard to something which remains one of the main causes of deaths on Europe’s roads.
The Commission has taken various measures on this issue. First and foremost, with regard to road checks, in the recommendation of 6 April 2004, the Commission pushed to intensify random checks on blood-alcohol levels through an effective device to measure alcohol in blood through an analysis of exhaled air, to be used in those places and at the times in which excessive consumption of alcohol by drivers is regularly observed.
Ladies and gentlemen, I must also stress that driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the offences covered by the proposal for a directive facilitating cross-border enforcement in the field of road safety, adopted by the Commission in March of this year, and currently being debated by the Council and Parliament.
At the last Transport Council, I was able to emphasise this to the ministers: faced with the loss of human lives, we cannot stalemate ourselves with legal quibbles or discuss whether it is an issue relating to the first or third pillar because unfortunately, legal debates serve for very little in tackling and resolving problems as serious as road accidents.
I would like to take the opportunity of this parliamentary debate to point out that the four offences envisaged in the directive under discussion which, in addition to driving while drunk, are speeding, not wearing seatbelts and driving after having taken narcotic substances, are responsible for three out of four road accidents. This means that much can and must be done by the European Union, and I therefore call once again upon Parliament to go forward in the direction already embarked upon through the vote in the Committee on Transport and Tourism.
Additionally I am just about to finish, Mr President, in order to be able to draw up in the near future concrete proposals regarding driving under the influence of psychoactive substances, in October 2006 the Commission launched a research project set to last for four years designed to improve knowledge in this field and formulate solutions. This is the DRUID project, of which you are well aware.
Finally, the financial support supplied by the Commission for awareness-raising campaigns should be stressed. These are, in particular, those campaigns conducted by young people aimed at other young people to make them aware of the danger of consuming alcohol and drugs when driving a car. One example of many is the campaign called ‘Bob’ which was very successful throughout Europe, and we should also remember the commitment of the Commission, which called Kimi Raikkonen, outgoing world Formula One champion, to Brussels to be a witness for the European Union’s campaign for road safety, as well as the day dedicated to road safety in large cities which was held in Paris on 10 October, and which is a further indication of the European Commission’s huge commitment on road safety. I made this one of my priorities during the debate on confidence following my appointment as European Commissioner for transport."@en1
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