European Commission intends restarting stalled cross-border road safety directiveItem Added 29 June 2009Recent written answers show the European Union plans to restart the legislative process for its cross-border directive on road safety, which was stalled by disagreement between the Commission and Council last December.
The disagreement is still not resolved, but Commissioner for Transport Antonio Tajani has said publicly that the European Commission is considering a modified proposal for the directive.
In his reply to a written question from Brigitte Fouré MEP - put to both the Commission and the Council - Mr Tajani said that the proposal would take account of amendments agreed in the European Parliament and issues raised in the Transport Council debate during December 2009.
MEP’s amendments included many that were recommended by the SPARKS Network. Changes MEPs demanded included:
- A review mechanism so that two years after it came into force the directive would be reviewed by the Commission to look at the possibility of extending its scope to include any other road traffic infringements
- A new mechanism for enforcing administrative offences that fall outside the scope of framework decision on financial penalties
- Safeguards concerning the processing of personal data and the management of a Community owned electronic network which will be created by the directive.
- Obligations on a vehicle owner to reveal the identity of the driver, if the owner was not the driver at the time of the offence.
The text of the European Parliament’s report which was adopted in a plenary vote in December 2009 can be found here.
“We lobbied for the directive’s scope to be expanded to embrace pollution and congestion - challenges that local transport authorities are currently grappling with,” said SPARKS Network manager Bill Blakemore.
“Now the EU is considering further modifications we will be continuing to lobby for the directive’s scope to be broadened from its current narrow focus.”
In his written answer Mr Tajani also said that he expected the Lisbon Treaty - if it is ratified by Irish voters in October - to put in place a new legal framework which the Commission could also take into account in drafting its next proposal.
The directive stalled because the Commission and Council could not agree on its legal basis. MEPs wanted a directive based on the Treaty of Rome, while Council members wanted a third pillar legal measure such as a framework decision.
Distinctions between first and third pillar measures will disappear after the Lisbon Treaty, so the Transport Council will no longer be able to object on this ground.
“We will be asking our members to contact their MEPs and national transport ministers, explaining the issues they face enforcing road safety, traffic and environmental laws against foreign vehicles and their drivers,” said Bill Blakemore.
“SPARKS is well known in Brussels. Working together SPARKS Network members can influence the outcome of this debate so that the directive supports broader traffic management activities.”
European Commission and Transport Council written answers to Brigitte Fouré’s question on the cross-border directive.
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