Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-326"
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"Mr President, I would like to thank all the Members of Parliament who have taken part in this debate, which I believe has indeed been an important one. I would also like to thank Mr Grosch very much for a report the quality of which has been unanimously recognised. I thank him, and the Committee on Transport and Tourism, warmly for their support and, I would say, their improvement of the Commission’s text. Congratulations, Mr Grosch! It is a very sensitive subject for Europe’s citizens and you have therefore succeeded in finding the right balance. I have of course heard some of you warning the Union against excessive regulation, but I have to say nevertheless that this new driving licence, a few of which I have already seen here and there in some Member States, will in my opinion bring greater safety for everyone, simplicity for its users and a subsidiarity that leaves a number of decisions to the Member States.
I would like to thank everyone who has raised the problem of motorcycles, bearing in mind in particular the young, and sometimes not so young, people who use them. One of you stressed that at a particular age people might want a motorcycle without necessarily being ready for one. It is true that we must be very careful. Motorcycle drivers are 16 times more likely to be involved in accidents than motorists. If the present trend continues and we do nothing, two-wheel drivers will account for as much as one third of fatalities in 2010.
I have been Minister for Health in a Member State and I can tell you that the number of deaths, and also the number of accidents that leave young people quadriplegic will affect me for the rest of my life. I therefore believe we must be extremely careful.
That is why, Mr President, I now want to express my warmest thanks to the honourable Members who, with their rapporteur, have done a quite remarkable piece of work. I am sure that our fellow European citizens will be very sensitive to the progress we have made, even if, of course, we still have some way to go.
I am aware that the problem of the cost of the driving licence and of the need to train examiners has also been mentioned. That is another matter for action and investigation in the Member States, because the younger generation in particular must not be faced with difficulties in obtaining a driving licence, since for many young people it is a way of obtaining employment. That is what I wanted to say.
On behalf of the Commission, I therefore accept your amendments, Mr Grosch. I am obliged to reject a few of them, but I nevertheless thank those who tabled them for their contribution to this debate, a contribution which must not be underestimated when we see its importance for the everyday lives of Europe’s citizens.
I would therefore say that it is a very well balanced text. It is true, ladies and gentlemen, that we are legislating on a very sensitive subject. The driving licence, Mr President, is now the most widespread qualification in the European Union: almost 300 million holders often depend on it for their mobility, for their everyday lives. On the other hand, of course, the diversity of responses shows that there are as many experts as there are holders of driving licences and that each expert has his or her own opinion on the subject.
However, in the light of the agreement reached in the Council last October and in the light of the vote in committee – your committee – there is a very broad consensus, which confirms that the other institutions largely share the Commission’s objectives. Clearly, given the number of amendments and the variety of reactions, I cannot respond on every point.
I can tell you, Mr Grosch, that the Commission is able to accept virtually all your amendments; on the other hand, however, it feels obliged to suggest that you reject a number of amendments which, while reflecting laudable intentions, would in a way unbalance the text and make it more cumbersome. This is one stage, and we know there will be other improvements yet. I am thinking for example of Amendments 97 to 129. Obviously, Mr President, I will arrange for the detail of the Commission’s response to all the amendments to be forwarded in writing, but I would like in particular to answer a few questions and, first of all, to explain my position on the replacement of licences that are already in circulation.
Your report, Mr Grosch, proposes replacing all existing licences within a period of 10 years for paper models and 20 years for other models. It is true that the Commission did not originally propose replacing all the licences already in circulation. However, recent revelations of document fraud and the fraudulent obtaining of driving licences – which a number of you have mentioned, referring to ‘driving licence tourism’ – have led to a change of attitude on the subject in the Member States.
In view of this, ladies and gentlemen, replacing every licence will allow databases to be updated, and forged licences and the duplicate and triplicate licences many citizens hold to be withdrawn. This operation will make a direct contribution to improving road checks and create an additional means of reducing impunity. The creation of a computer network will also serve this objective. With this in mind, I would like to inform Parliament that the Commission is cooperating with the Member States on the creation of a driving licence network to be known as Resper. This database will connect the national databases and the relevant work will be completed in 2005.
That is therefore why all the amendments are acceptable to the Commission, and I have no doubt that the formulation proposed by the Grosch report opens up the prospect of a fruitful debate in the Council on this replacement of licences already in circulation. Obviously, the Commission cannot accept amendments that are not consistent with this and which might in future even prevent the problems I have already mentioned being resolved.
I would also like to say a few words about limited administrative validity. The Commission has proposed an administrative validity of 10 years for future driving licences. This document in evidence of rights to drive will have to include a recent photograph and incorporate the most advanced possible anti-fraud protection. This will enable checks to be effective and road safety to be improved without excessive cost.
It is nevertheless true that the Commission did not propose linking this regular renewal with a medical examination because we still have to leave the Member States some responsibility in this field in the name of subsidiarity. So much for limited administrative validity, which nevertheless looks interesting to us in that it will help to prevent fraud and to update the licence without undue formality. As I said, the Commission has not proposed regular medical examinations, and limited validity is not automatically linked to such checks, which remain the responsibility of the Member States."@en1
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