Brussels, 14/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - Network congestion and road safety were two major themes in a seminary on 12-14 October, organised by the Forum Europe and the Volvo group in Brussels. Contributions stressed that the constant increase in traffic throughout the European network, as well as traffic jams are major obstacles to the development of the single market and improved competitiveness. Giles Merritt (director of Forum Europe), Elisabeth Alteköster (director for transport and the information society at the Council), Ulf Ehrning (Volvo Trucks), Malcolm Harbour (MEP, British Conservative), Chris Kampfraath (political advisor to the Dutch department of transport) et John Rees (advisor for Trans-European transport, energy and transport at the European Commission). The development of efficient policies, especially their application, are the results of a long process, which does not always fit well with the speed with which traffic is increasing (freight transport by freight is expected to increase by 40% by the beginning of 2020), warned the participants, who all stressed the need for a European-level policy that is broadly agreed on and which is not limited to the national arena. Ms Alteköster underlined that "we are all in the same boat". A global policy, necessarily expensive, given the environmental and social considerations (pollution reduction, protecting workers and saving jobs). The situation in the new Member States. The situation in the new Member States, which are experiencing a significant delay in the modernisation of transport infrastructure was also mentioned by John Rees.
The debate on road transport highlighted additional initiatives for accident reduction on the road and allowed Herman de Croo (Transport Safety Council), Lars Göran Löwenadler (Volvo Trucks), Lennart Palmqvist (Volvo Trucks), Dimitrios Theologitis (European Commission, DG Energie and Transport) and Swedish MEP Ewa Hedkvist Petersen to make a contribution. Volvo representatives explained that the investment agreed to by the car industry for funding research and studies on efforts to improve parts on vehicles such as "soft noses" (to reduce often fatal frontal impact and which could save the lives of thousands every year) or electronic equipment for heavy goods vehicles. Mr Theologitis said that no miracle solution existed and called for dialogue and research to continue in an effort to find viable solutions that would not endanger the economic interest of the road sector. He added that combining efficiency and safety was part of their strategy. Ms Hedkvist Petersen underlined the importance of the European Parliament agreement on road safety, declaring "We represent the citizens…and the citizens are very unhappy about the mortality rate on the roads". She also mentioned driving licence harmonisation in Europe and the importance of beginning detailed scientific studies for equipping vehicles with security systems. He explained that the European Parliament would not hesitate to tackle the new Commission and that it would have many questions to pose it very soon. With regard to road safety there was no clear differences between former and new Member States, explained Dimitrios Theologitis, responding to a contribution by George Giannopoulos, Director of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (Greece), which had just illustrated the high level of road accidents in Greece. Giannopoulos said that a change in ideas was as necessary as having better infrastructure.
Victim protection and pursuing dangerous drivers at centre of next colloquy
Legal protection of victims and pursuing dangerous drivers outside their countries of origin are the main themes of the conference for 14-15 October in Trêves (Germany) as part of the "European Traffic Law Days", organised by the Institute for European Traffic Law (ERA) and the European Academy of Law. Around 200 people will attend the event, including members of the EP, representatives from automobile associations and the academic and legal world. Participants will be focusing on legal issues raided by traffic accidents and road offences abroad, such as compensation for serious injuries, pile-ups, cross-border execution of fines and driving bans, competent courts and laws on traffic accidents. Diana Wallis, British Liberal MEP, will outline the EP's position on the Commission's recent proposal to introduce a new Community regulation on laws applicable to non-contractual obligations such as traffic accidents. The programme is available at: (http: //http://www.era.int/www/fr/c_17770.htm ).