Thank you for your request for information about road safety and toll policies.
Regarding road safety, the Commission has adopted in October 2006 a proposal for a Directive on road infrastructure safety management. It will introduce a comprehensive system of road infrastructure safety management focussing on the following four procedures: road safety impact assessment, road safety audits, network safety management and safety inspections. Objectives of the Directive are to bring about a common high level of safety of roads in all EU Member States and to ensure that safety is integrated in all phases of planning, design and operation of a road infrastructure. Once in force, it is expected to save more than 600 fatalities and 7000 injuries/year. The proposal is currently under discussion at the European Parliament and at the Council.
The text of the proposal and further information are available on the road safety section of the website of the Directorate General for Energy and Transport at:
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/roadsa...y_mgnt_en.htm.
As regards road charging policy, the Member States are obliged to transpose Directive 2006/38/EC amending Directive 1999/62 on charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures until 10 June 2008. The main objective of the Directive is to eliminate the distortion of competition between transport undertakings in the EU through the harmonisation of levy systems and the establishment of fair mechanisms for charging infrastructure costs to hauliers. It should provide for enough financing to cover not only current but also future road infrastructure costs in the Member States while, at the same time, giving them the possibility to differentiate tolls and user charges according to environmental standards and the level of congestion.
The introduction of the European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) in compliance with Directive 2004/52 on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems will facilitate the levy of tolls without hampering the traffic flows. EETS, the definition of which is foreseen for December 2008, will become available all over the EU as described in Directive 2004/52. EETS has to be offered to heavier vehicles as an alternative to national electronic toll collection systems at the latest three years after it has been defined. The transition period is five years for all other vehicle types.
I can also inform you that the Commission is preparing an action plan to accelerate the deployment of "Intelligent Transport Systems" in the EU as useful instruments to support the implementation of the different EU policies in areas such as transport, environment, innovation etc. This action plan will be ready by summer this year.
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