Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-324"
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"en.20050222.16.2-324"2
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"Mr President, much as I regret it, I must start by replying to the comments made earlier by Mr Piecyk, who said that anyone who fails the German theory and attitude test known appropriately as the
can resort to various tricks to obtain a driving licence in another country such as the Czech Republic. I should like to assure Mr Piecyk that the requirements for obtaining a driving licence in both the Czech Republic and Poland are a great deal more stringent than merely passing the
. High standards are required not only of drivers, but also of welders, doctors and nurses, who are so highly sought after in the old EU Member States.
I should now like to turn to my main concern. The Grosch report combines two issues we know from experience to be extremely complex. The first of these is the drive towards standardisation, or harmonisation, and the second is the desire to ensure respect for the principle of subsidiarity. There is no question that driving licences need to be standardised, as we cannot expect any policeman anywhere in Europe to be familiar with all their various permutations. Yet although there is a great temptation to do so, standardisation should not be followed up with measures that interfere with the sovereign laws of individual states, for example those relating to the age of drivers, medical examinations or systems for training learner drivers. I should like to congratulate Mr Grosch on having resisted this temptation.
What is absolutely crucial, however, is to set up a European network of databases. Until such a network exists it will be impossible to reduce forgeries, and hence to increase road safety. The reason for this, as is well known, is that those who cannot obtain driving licences legally resort to illegal means, and pose a threat to themselves and to others because they do not have the necessary skills to drive a vehicle. It has come to my attention that the European Commission has experienced problems with the implementation of this database, and I have to admit that I find this perplexing. Given that nowadays one can easily purchase items on the Internet, reserve tickets for flights or carry out complicated banking operations, why should the Commission regard the setting up of such a system as a near-Herculean task? I thank you."@en1
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