Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I must start by thanking Mr Jarzembowski for the way in which he acknowledges the great value of transit areas for Europe’s road users as a whole, in view of which I do not doubt that he will play a very active part in the Conciliation Committee when it considers the transit issue. Thank you for that! I wanted, of course, also to extend warm thanks to Mr Rack for his report and for the work he has done. It has indeed not been an easy task, but it has been a technical one, having much to do with the safety of our fellow citizens and with the protection of their lives and limbs. Mr Jarzembowski has already pointed out how difficult it is to weigh in the balance maximum safety on the one hand and costs – which have to be affordable – on the other. If one were to look at this solely from the point of view of the safety of human beings, one would have to demand immediate rebuilding, with bi-directional tunnels and so on. If, though, one considers these things in relation to costs – which one also has to do – then a new middle way has to be found. I agreed with the rapporteur that the rather stringent regulation that the Commission proposed was a good foundation. It became apparent, though, in the course of debates in the committee, as well as in discussions with the Council and, eventually, with the Commission, that some points might well call for a gentler approach, and so we came to a compromise, but one that takes account of the essential safety aspects. Mr Jarzembowski has already made reference to the special conditions that apply in cities. We have always attached great importance to the clear demarcation of responsibilities, so that there should be no lack of clarity about who is responsible for what in matters affecting the safety of tunnels. That is why the establishment of supervisory bodies and the appointment of a safety coordinator for each tunnel is so very important, for we can see that the principal problem with safety measures of this kind is that nobody really feels responsible. It is also important that rules for this should be laid down by the European Union and that we in the committee accepted the Commission’s proposals with only minor modifications. I share the view that we should, of course, not limit ourselves to building work, but that measures should also be taken to organise traffic. On that, I would have liked to see better account taken of several amendments, but it has to be clear to us from the outset that diversions, speed restrictions and rules on the intervals between vehicles are necessary in those places where they make sense and will not lead to serious traffic jams, as is professional training for drivers of heavy goods vehicles – for it is particularly in connection with the transport of hazardous loads that we have seen particularly serious accidents. Just as is stated in the motion, I take the view that the Member States will of course have to comply by doing this not only with reference to the trans-European networks, but also, and to an adequate degree, in the other tunnels and in the other parts of the road network. So let me reiterate my belief that this is a good report with a realistic approach, and say that I agree with the Commissioner that we and the Council need to come to a shared solution without delay. Once again, then, many thanks to the rapporteur for the work he has done.

Political group: PSE