Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-16-Speech-2-486"
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"en.20081216.44.2-486"2
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by thanking Mrs Ayala Sender for the commitment she has lavished on this work, which she has truly carried out with passion, tenacity and great objectivity.
The Commission’s efforts therefore – I have to tell you again – have one major objective, that of road safety. As concerns the content, however, we have examined Mrs Ayala Sender’s text, the amendments she has tabled, and we have no objection to them; on the contrary, the Commission feels that this report points in the exact same direction as the proposal we presented, even helping to improve the quality of the text in certain respects.
For example, the European Parliament sees the electronic network established for the exchange of information as a tool to be managed at Community level in order to guarantee the protection of European citizens’ personal data. I can only say that I support these amendments that map out and specify the scope of the proposal. I also believe that some of the amendments really strengthen the proposal we presented.
I refer to the amendments guaranteeing the follow-up of road traffic offences falling within the jurisdiction of administrative authorities and the amendments proposing the drafting of guidelines on monitoring methods and practices for Member States. These are all essential elements for ensuring road safety and achieving our target of at least halving the number of deaths caused by accidents on European roads. I would remind you that more than 40 000 people die on Europe’s roads every year; in 2007 the figure was 42 500. If we consider that this is more or less equivalent to one plane crash every day, it is clear that this is an often underestimated tragedy. We are clearly not accustomed to thinking about how widespread the problem is.
We ought, of course, to do more, much more. That is why I welcome Parliament’s swift action on this matter, and would like to thank Mrs Ayala Sender once more, as well as the Committee on Transport and Tourism, for the work they have done and for having grasped what is at stake here: the safety of all European citizens. Parliament and the Commission are in perfect harmony on this, both insisting on the need for urgency in introducing laws that can make a real difference in reducing road accidents.
Unfortunately, at the last meeting of the Council of Ministers we did not manage to achieve a consensus among the Member States. The French Presidency did try to mediate, but on 9 December we had to face the fact that, despite an agreement on the overall strategy to reduce the number of deaths, many Member States were insistent on the question of the third pillar. While the Commission and Parliament share the same views on the first pillar, many Member States are still talking about the need to regulate the issue under the third pillar.
This strikes me as a complete contradiction, and I want to say so publicly before this House, repeating what I said at the Council of Ministers. We cannot understand how the European Council can decide to seek agreement on adopting the Treaty of Lisbon with a new referendum in Ireland – as you all know, the Treaty of Lisbon abolishes the third pillar – at the same time as Member States are saying that we need to regulate all action on collecting cross-border penalties on the basis of the third pillar. This seems to me to be a huge contradiction that can lead to no positive outcome, and because of legal wrangling we are wasting time and are unable to take practical steps to provide citizens with practical help.
Road accidents are no theoretical matter; they are a reality that could affect any European family, including our own, at any time. It is our children who are on the roads, coming home from the clubs on a Saturday night or going to play football or going to parties. We should keep that thought in mind; this is not a question of legal wrangling and we have no time to lose.
I regret that there is no one from the Council here this evening, as I would like to make another heartfelt appeal – and I think I can do so on behalf of Parliament too – asking the Council to change its position and for the Transport Council to take the same line as the European Council. We must look to the future, we must look to the Treaty of Lisbon. We all hope that it can enter into force soon, because I do not think we can afford to keep looking backwards when it comes to a question of protecting the lives of us all."@en1
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