Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-25-Speech-4-068"
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"en.20100225.5.4-068"2
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"To begin with, speaking on behalf of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, I, too, wish to express my heartfelt sympathy for the victims of the Buizingen rail disaster and their families and friends.
We do have to await the results of the investigation before drawing real, detailed conclusions, of course, but that does not change the fact that railway safety must remain a permanent area of attention at all levels, including the European level, and that we must therefore evaluate, improve, supplement and adjust safety policy on a regular basis. I should like to join my fellow Member and also you, Commissioner, in making quite clear our regret that a number of individuals with significant responsibilities in Belgium have sought to pass responsibility for the accident on to Europe or have at least given that impression. The delay in the development of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) has been cited in particular as a reason why now, in 2010, only a handful of locomotives in Belgium are equipped with the automatic stop system.
Ladies and gentlemen, on the other hand, let us make one thing clear, and let us be frank about this: the development of this good idea – a single signalling system to replace the 20 separate systems – has taken longer than hoped or expected. This, of course, is attributable to the technical complexity and to the fact that agreement on a standard has to be reached among a very large number of countries, namely 27, although at the time, there were a couple fewer. Of course, there are also associated budgetary consequences. Yet, as you rightly said, this has not stopped a single Member State from developing its own system or starting to use a kind of embryonic version of ERTMS at an early stage.
I take the view that we do need to look ahead now and ask ourselves how we can contribute to safer railways. I believe we can make this contribution on several fronts at European level, too. We can do so, firstly, thanks to the further development of ERTMS. Such a development plan exists. In 2009, we earmarked EUR 240 million from the budget for trans-European transport networks (TEN-T) in order to help Member States out with this.
Secondly, however, and I think that this is an important task for the Commission and the European Railway Agency, we must also monitor whether existing European safety legislation is being implemented in practice in the field. I would cite the example of Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community’s railways. This lays down, among other things, that a safety authority is to be established in each Member State, which must be independent from the railway undertakings and the infrastructure manager, and whose tasks include monitoring, encouraging and enforcing railway safety and developing a regulatory framework. I have the feeling, ladies and gentlemen, that this is not working particularly well in Belgium, and I think that you should organise a kind of audit to look into whether Member States do indeed have the capacity to guarantee this safety proactively in their national rail systems. That is a task I should like to entrust to you."@en1
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