Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
To ensure safer road traffic across Europe, the Presidency of the Council of the Union and European Parliament negotiators have reached provisional agreement on a proposal to amend the 2015 Directive on the exchange of cross-border information on road safety-related traffic crimes. The new legislation forms part of the so-called “road safety” legislative package. The current rotating Belgian presidency of the European Union said:
“Stricter and more efficient rules on the enforcement of penalties for traffic offences, including violations of vehicle access restrictions, will improve safety on European motorways and ensure safer and greener residential areas across the EU. The amended legislation also guarantees equal treatment For all drivers in the European Union, regardless of their nationality. We are pleased to reach a quick agreement with the European Parliament on this issue. According to Manvel, a European statement in Brussels from Georges Gilkennet, Belgian Minister of Mobility.
The European statement referred to the main elements of the new legislation and said, “The amended directive aims to ensure that non-resident drivers respect traffic rules when driving in other member states of the European Union.”
The interim agreement retained the overall momentum of the Commission's proposal. However, participating legislators made several changes to the proposal, mainly intended to clarify the scope and definitions of the law. This entails, among other things, the following:
Introducing the concept of “person concerned” and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of national contact points and competent authorities
Adding more crimes to the amended legislation, such as cases of failure to respect vehicle access restrictions, rules at a level crossing, crossing a solid line, dangerous overtaking, dangerous parking, driving in the wrong direction, or using improperly loaded vehicles. Plus, also like hit-and-run situations
Further clarification of the various procedures related to accessing vehicle registration data and the various options for the competent authorities to request mutual assistance with the aim of ensuring that the person concerned is identified and that the traffic violation notice reaches the correct place within a reasonable period of time.
Establish all necessary safeguards to protect the fundamental rights of the driver or any other person concerned, including by establishing a clear framework to prohibit any abuse by private entities involved in the process of traffic crimes related to road safety, and better mechanisms for protecting personal data.
Regarding the next steps, the European statement explained, “The interim agreement must be approved today by the Council and the European Parliament before the official adoption of the legislative law. On the part of the Council, the Belgian presidency intends to submit the compromise text to the representatives of the member states (Coreper) for approval as soon as possible.” Once approved, the text will be submitted for legal/linguistic review before being formally adopted by both participating legislators, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and entering into force 20 days after this publication. Member states will have 30 months to translate the provisions of the amended Directive into their national legislation. .
The European statement noted that, within the framework of the European Union Road Safety Policy 2021-2030, the Commission renewed its commitment to the ambitious goal of reaching nearly zero deaths and serious injuries on European Union roads by 2050 (“Vision Zero”), in addition to the goal The medium term is to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030. However, road deaths rose by 4% last year compared to 2021, according to the latest UNHCR data. This is still 9% below the pre-pandemic level, but the pace of improvement is not sufficient to reach the above targets.
The proposal in question forms part of the “Road Safety Package”, adopted by the Commission on 1 March 2023, which also includes a new driving license system and a new proposal on driver disqualification, where disqualification in a Member State results in the following: -Member State procedures Which issued the driver's license. On 2 June 2023, the Transport Board took note of the progress report, and on 4 December 2023 adopted a general approach on this file.