Answer to Written question on Commission's views on road safety and driving under the influence of alcohol

Question on the Commission's views on road safety and driving under the influence of alcohol by Dan Jørgensen (S&D)

Road safety is an important priority for the Commission and, for that reason, more should be done in this area. One of the areas which has great potential is reducing the number of motorists on the roads driving under the influence of alcohol.

There are various methods of preventing and penalising drink-driving in the EU. What initiatives has the Commission already taken to enable the Member States to learn from each other's experiences? What initiatives will it take in the future?

As far as I have been able to establish, neither is there any easily accessible database listing the promille limits in the various Member States, which makes it difficult to ascertain what the rules are in the individual countries. This is a problem for people driving on holiday or crossing EU borders in a professional capacity.

Could the Commission draw up such a register and set up an information unit?

Answer given by Mr Kallas on behalf of the Commission

The Commission shares the concerns of the Honourable Member regarding the high risk of driving under the influence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances.

In 1988 the Commission proposed a directive harmonising legal blood alcohol content (BAC) levels for drivers. After 13 years of discussion with the Council and Parliament, which never approved the proposal, the Commission published in 2001 a Recommendation (2001/116/EC of 17 January 2001)(1) on the maximum permitted blood alcohol content (BAC) for drivers of motorised vehicles.

A major research project (DRUID — Driving under the influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines) has been launched in 2006 by the Commission under the 7th Research Framework Programme. Its final results are expected for the end of 2011 and will deeply contribute to the implementation of science-based policy measures in the field.

Moreover in its road safety policy orientations for 2011‑20(2) the Commission has included the fight against drink-driving as one of the priority field of action. Measures that the Commission intends to promote in order to implement these policy orientations, through exchange of experiences and best practices or legislation where appropriate include use of advanced technologies, such as alcohol interlock systems, innovative rehabilitation courses and stronger enforcement.

The available European road safety data and knowledge base have been integrated and made publicly available on the Internet through the European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO)(3). Such an integrated tool is essential for monitoring the application of road safety policies, evaluating their impact and devising new initiatives. The Commission will therefore pursue the further development of ERSO, including actions on communication and on information of citizens on road safety issues.

Regarding differences in the legislation in force in the various Member States and the confusion such differences could engender in citizens travelling abroad the Commission has developed a website dedicated to road safety with a specific page on ‘going abroad' with a synopsis of traffic rules in all EU Member States, including drivers' allowed blood alcohol content (cf. http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/observatory/doc/alcohol_rules.pdf). This information is updated when new legislation enters into force.

The Commission has released in April 2010 a Eurobarometer on EU citizens' attitudes towards alcohol(4). Some questions aimed at considering EU citizens' awareness of risk and harm when drinking and driving.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has also released a road traffic database that provides useful breakdowns such as accidents ‘under the influence of alcohol'(5).