Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-16-Speech-2-492"
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"en.20081216.44.2-492"2
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"Mr President, my colleague Ari Vatanen, who is a well-known champion of motor sport, often says that we all have to die one day, but he adds that this does not have to happen at the wheel of a car. Since 2005, however, the number of victims of fatal road accidents has not fallen as it should. The 2007 figures reinforce our concern. It is these fluctuations that best demonstrate how much we still have to do.
We are all aware that sanctions imposed for many offences committed on the territory of Member States other than the driver’s country of residence are most frequently not enforced. The proposal for a directive that we are now debating rightly outlines an electronic data exchange system which aims to facilitate the cross-border enforcement of financial road traffic penalties, focusing on the four most serious offences in terms of human lives in Europe. This system is justified in itself. However, the rights of citizens with regard to the protection of their personal data must be safeguarded.
The European Commission’s evaluation of the directive’s implementation is therefore essential and should be rigorously carried out. There is still the problem of the different legal categorisation of offences according to the Member State in which they are committed. In some cases, these offences are merely administrative, whereas in others they are criminal offences. In some cases they are accompanied by additional penalties, such as a driving ban, but in others they are not. This is not the time to go into technical detail, but it is the time to call for the best solutions for implementing the directive to be studied for the future.
The rapporteur, whom I must congratulate, in fact suggests possible solutions that include the harmonisation of both fixed penalties and also road safety control practices and equipment. In our opinion, there are also doubts about the effective right of appeal when the driver does not agree with the penalty applied. Will this right be properly guaranteed where the appellant has to appeal in a jurisdiction and against laws which are not those of his country of residence? This is a question which I leave for Commissioner Tajani to answer.
Lastly, drivers must be properly informed about their new rights and duties. Only in this way will they see this initiative, not as a repressive instrument, but rather as a way of encouraging behaviour behind the wheel which is safer and more respectful of other people’s and their own lives."@en1
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