Brussels, 03/08/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission confirmed that it is preparing a recommendation encouraging Member States to set the level of alcohol permitted in the blood when driving at 0.5mg/ml in accordance with the resolution on road safety adopted by the Council last June (see EUROPE OF 29 June, p.16). Commenting on an article published in the German press, the spokesperson for the European Commissioner for Transport underlined that the recommendations will not be binding, but aimed at promoting a common approach between the Member States and reinforced checks. The Commission had proposes, some years ago, a draft Directive harmonising the level of alcohol for drivers that was rejected by the Council in the name of the principal of subsidiarity, reminded the spokesperson.
Until now, only four Member States enforce a limit above 0.5 mg/ml (Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom which enforce a limit of 0.8 mg/ml) and only one below (Sweden that sets a limit on 0.2 mg/ml). Alcohol remains one of the main causes of road accidents, underlined the European Commission in its Communication on European priorities with regard to road safety (see EUROPE of 11 March). According to the appreciable elements available, a global reduction of 10% in the number of accidents due to alcohol could be achieved by implementing a package of measures based on a lowering and greater uniformity of the permitting levels, writes the Commission. According to it such a measure would enable to save around 1000 lives per year out of the 10,000 people who die due to alcohol while driving each year.
In its resolution of last June, the Council set seven legislative priorities to improve road safety, including this recommendation on alcohol levels. It had also called for a Directive on the homogenisation of cars with less aggressive bonnets for pedestrians and cyclists in case of accident. This draft Directive is presently the object of difficult negotiations between the Industry Commissioner, Erkki Liikanen, and the automobile industry, hostile towards the idea of a binding Directive (see EUROPE of 15 July, p.4). The Council resolution was published in the Official Journal C 218.