Mr President, at this very late hour I, as rapporteur, would like to say a few words about the report. Firstly, I would like to thank all my colleagues for such excellent teamwork on the committee. I would also like to thank the Commission for an excellent proposal for a directive regarding safety belts and child restraint systems in vehicles. This is an important issue. I would like once again to repeat that a very large number of people die in road traffic accidents in EU Member States. We are talking about around 42,000 people a year. We would never accept such a high death rate in any other form of transport, so we must act. One such action is the proposal now being tabled by the Commission. We must also remember that children are at great risk on the roads. The most common cause of death among children and young people is traffic accidents. The question is whether the EU should legislate on safety belts and child safety in cars. My answer is yes. I think it is very important. Firstly, it has a legal basis in the Treaty of Rome. Secondly there is already legislation, a directive, which must now be strengthened, due to a need for such action. We know that safety belts save lives. This is particularly the case regarding children. Accident research shows that the risk of serious injury is seven times higher for children who do not use a restraint system than for children who do use such a system. There is therefore a need for such a system. In addition, traffic in Europe today is, to a very large extent, transboundary. People travel in private cars, but also in commercial vehicles. Private and commercial motoring is increasing across borders, as we have seen in a report today. We also have rapidly increasing numbers of tourists, which creates a need for common regulations with regard to fundamental safety measures on our roads. It is therefore important that we have a high level of safety in all EU countries, so that we know what regulations apply to private drivers or occupational drivers, and also to car manufacturers. It is important for them to have common safety requirements so that the regulations are clear. At the same time, it is also important to consumers that safety systems become cheaper, which will be the case if the regulations are common throughout the EU. The Commission’s proposal is a strengthening of a previous directive, which states that all passengers in a vehicle equipped with safety belts must use them, that all children must, without exception, be restrained in approved child car seats, that children under three may not travel in cars without suitable child car seats, with the exception of taxis, and that the use of rear-facing child car seats is forbidden if the air bag has not been de-activated. All these are good proposals. The committee agrees that these should also be put forward as Parliament’s proposals. However, we propose six amendments. Briefly, the first amendment is that the Commission, along with the Member States and road safety organisations, should promote an information campaign. Our second amendment is that the height of the child should determine when a child can use an adult seat belt. In Amendment 4, we want manufacturers to state which child car seats fit which car models. We also propose that rural buses used in city traffic – not particularly common, but it happens – should not be covered by the requirement for compulsory use. We also want the Commission, in partnership with the automotive industry, to develop safer and more user-friendly systems for air bags. In addition, a report on this should be incorporated into the report to be presented no later than 1 August 2004 on the implementation of the directive. The Council will discuss the Commission’s proposals at the Transport Council at the end of June. I look forward to our being able to reach a common decision in the EU and to our being able to implement this vital measure which is fundamental to road safety in the EU.

Political group: PSE