Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-11-19-Speech-1-240-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20121119.27.1-240-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, I would like to thank the rapporteurs, Wim van de Camp and Antonio Panzeri, for their reports. I want to take the opportunity in the presence of the Commissioner to raise concerns about some aspects of the safety requirements that the Commission is proposing through its roadworthiness package which was introduced in July 2012.
Previously only four-wheel vehicles had been subject to mandatory annual testing; now all two- and three-wheelers including motorcycles, mopeds and scooters, will come under the umbrella for periodic roadworthiness tests through the Commission’s proposal. I have not seen a convincing case for the introduction of these tests for motorcycles.
It was pointed out in a study co-funded by the European Commission that only about 1 % of accidents involving motorcycles are caused or linked to technical defects. Clearly road safety is the key concern in this debate, yet it is important that when carrying out assessments of safety requirements we compare past country experiences in a thorough manner.
If we take the Netherlands, for example, there they have one of the lowest annual rates of motorcycle accidents, as I understand it, yet they have no compulsory roadworthiness tests for motorcycles. Additionally, Sweden is the only country in Scandinavia where periodic roadworthiness tests are mandatory for motorcycles. There was previously an annual test requirement for motorcycles older than 10 years, but this was changed in 2004 to biennial tests. One of the reasons was because roadworthiness tests did not require this sort of frequency. So far as I am informed, this decision has had no negative effective on Swedish motorcycle accident statistics.
It has been estimated that for users of motorcycles in Europe the proposal could inflict annual costs of up to EUR 1.2 billion. The costs of these measures may far outweigh the expected benefits. Will mandatory testing for all motorcycles make a real impact on accidents statistics in Europe? Let us see the evidence. We need to take a balanced approach on this especially in these difficult times where extra costs can be overwhelming for families and citizens. It is important that we lay down harmonised rules on the administrative and technical requirements for certain vehicles. These reports before us here tonight make vital steps to simplify legislation and to ensure that we are on the right path to making vehicles safer through internal harmonisation. However, it is important to harmonise policies across the EU, but only where they have a real impact."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples