Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-10-Speech-2-020"
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"Madam President, let me begin by congratulating Mr Schwab on his report and thanking him for his extremely cooperative approach to this whole matter.
Last Thursday night, a colleague of ours, Linda McAvan, was involved in a very serious car accident. Her car was destroyed, but she walked away relatively unhurt. This was because the car she was driving had the most modern safety features and this enabled her not to be seriously injured. That is the context in which we are discussing this report. Road safety saves lives, as Commissioner Verheugen commented, and is so important to the well-being of many families in the European Union. We should not lose sight of that, even in these very difficult times.
That is why I was determined to oppose those people in this Parliament and in the Council who wanted to weaken this Commission proposal. I believe the original Commission proposal is a very good one, and we were determined to resist changes to it.
There was one main weakness, however, in that proposal, which is that there was no provision for the selling off of tyres that did not meet the new requirements after the implementation date. I believe that to be a major flaw. That is why I proposed to the committee – and the committee accepted – an amendment stating that tyres that did not meet the standards after the implementation date should be sold off after 12 months.
However, in the current circumstances of the car industry, given that cars are not being sold, it was quite clear in the discussions we had with the Council that, in fact, 12 months was probably unrealistic, and we had to consider the serious environmental consequences of getting rid of tyres that are perfectly good and sound. Therefore, we were prepared to accept, in the trialogue, 30 months after the implementation date as being the period before which tyres not meeting the requirements should be sold off. However, thanks to the intervention of Mr Schwab, if the Commission believes that there could be an earlier date, that is provided for in the comitology procedure. This was an important area of strengthening.
I would also draw attention to the important environmental measures – particularly tyre pressure monitoring systems – which will not only save on CO
but also make cars safer, because under-inflated tyres are a cause of many accidents. We have reduced rolling resistance and included gear shift indicators in this proposal, which was not in the original proposal. This will not only benefit the environment but also save motorists money – it is cash in people’s pockets, which is very important at this time.
The point about safety has been well made. As I say, tyre pressure monitoring systems are very important, because under-inflated tyres – much to my shame, the United Kingdom is one of the worst culprits for having under-inflated tyres – are a cause of accidents. Lane departure warning systems and electronic stability control are also important. I congratulate Mr Schwab on bringing the implementation of these forward by a year, because they will be of major advantage in terms of safety.
As Mr Harbour and the Commissioner have pointed out, simplification is part of this proposal and that is very important.
Finally, I would draw attention to what we have done in terms of demanding greater emphasis, in road services, on reducing noise. This is because road traffic noise is a cause of stress, and stress is a cause of ill health and, indeed, of fatalities, and it is therefore important to address that issue."@en1
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