Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-17-Speech-2-449"
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"en.20080617.42.2-449"2
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, according to the statistics before the Commission, more than 8 000 people are killed each year on the roads in the European Union and 300 000 are injured. This is an intolerable situation and that is the reason why we have spent the last few years working hard to ensure greater safety on the roads.
Several years ago, the European Parliament accepted a proposal for a Directive relating to the protection of pedestrians, which was then adopted in 2003. This was one of the first regulations in the world that related specifically to pedestrian protection. This legislation required manufacturers to ensure that new vehicles were less dangerous to pedestrians and to prove this in relevant tests. Since then, due not least to pressure from the European Parliament, legal provisions have been issued to counteract the hazard to road users by frontal protection systems on motor vehicles. The existing legal provisions on pedestrian protection acknowledge that, in certain circumstances, it can be difficult to fulfil the requirements laid down in them.
The Commission has taken on the task of examining the extent to which it is possible to satisfy these requirements and the possibility of using new, active safety systems. The Commission has commissioned a study, the results of which you are aware, and this study confirms the assumption that, indeed, not all of the requirements can be met and that, on the other hand, active security systems are suited to improving pedestrian protection. Based on this information, the Commission has presented the proposal that is before you today – a combination of passive safety systems and a Brake Assist system, the installation of which will be made mandatory. This will achieve an even higher level of safety.
The Commission estimates that this proposal will lead to approximately 1 000 fewer deaths on our roads every year. Naturally, the Commission will continue to work towards implementing similar regulations at international level, even after the proposal is accepted. Allow me to mention some of the key elements of the proposal: the regulation proposed by the Commission lays down requirements for passive safety that can indeed be met and makes it obligatory for vehicles to be equipped with an active safety system, known as the Brake Assist system. In addition, provisions on pedestrian protection will now also apply to off-road vehicles, also known as SUVs. This combination will improve the safety of vulnerable road users considerably.
The regulation brings together the tests required to prove adequate pedestrian protection by vehicles and frontal protection systems. The requirements to be met in the tests are laid down in this regulation as implementing measures. Essential aspects of the proposal include the use of active systems which, in the Commission’s view, can provide considerable safety gains both now and in the future, and the abolition of the weight restriction for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, to which the regulation will also apply.
At this point I would like to convey my special thanks to your rapporteur, Mr Ferrari, for his efforts to achieve mutual agreement on the review and acceptance of the proposal. That is what made it possible to achieve consensus on this proposal. Mr Ferrari’s report supports the Commission proposal, for which I am very thankful, and the amendments he suggested will indeed assist in further clarifying certain points. Mr Ferrari, you propose continuing to observe and monitor the use and improvement of passive safety systems and the potential use of new active safety systems and then, if necessary, suggesting amendments to existing legal provisions. The Commission is more than willing to do this, and will indeed do so. Other amendments are designed to ensure that, on the one hand, the requirements of the regulation apply to the relevant vehicles as soon as possible and, on the other hand, to allow manufacturers sufficient time to implement the necessary changes to construction methods. For a large number of European vehicle manufacturers, the new provisions mean that significant changes must be made to the design of their vehicles, necessitating major construction changes.
I am delighted to be able to tell you that the Commission finds all the amendments proposed in Mr Ferrari’s report acceptable. As far as the significance of the regulation for improving road safety and the planned schedule for the introduction of the tests specified in the regulation are concerned, the Commission is sure that the proposal can now be adopted at first reading."@en1
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