Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU met on Tuesday 6 February to discuss the directive facilitating the cross-border exchange of information on road safety offences (see EUROPE 13306/3). According to a diplomatic source contacted by EUROPE on Friday 9 February, the issue of restricted areas has blocked a possible compromise.
“Parliament was quite strict. It did not accept that the exchange of information on offences in restricted areas as a whole should be included in the scope”, explained the source. These include offences relating to non-compliance with the air pollution criteria applied in ‘Low Emission Zones’ (LEZs).
This text is part of the ‘road safety package’, and this type of offence is not a safety offence, according to Parliament. But for the EU Council, it is still a road traffic offence, and excluding this measure would call into question “the conditions of fairness for drivers”. The Belgian Presidency of the Council proposed deferring this measure for three years, but three parliamentary groups rejected this option.
According to the source, the negotiators were unable to discuss the supervision of private companies that hold, own or end-use vehicles subject to data exchange, because Parliament blocked any prior discussion.
“The issue of LEZs will be raised again in the working group this week. An agreement is still possible”, said the source. There is not much time left to wrap up the dossiers before the start of the parliamentary recess linked to the European elections. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)