WRITTEN QUESTION E-2769/02 by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE) to the Commission. Safety categories in the European road network.
Date: 2002-10-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: aid system, cartography, dissemination of information, public awareness campaign, road network, road safety, sustainable development, trans-European network

12.6.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 137 E/117

Reply

(18 February 2003)

The property development initiative taken by the Belgian government and presented at the European
Council meeting in Seville is currently being examined from the technical point of view by a working
party comprising representatives of the Belgian authorities and of the General Secretariat of the Council.

The purpose is primarily to explain to the Council the planning, scheduling and cost aspects involved in
this initiative. The matter will not be referred to the Council until all these aspects have been clarified.

The Council is therefore for the moment unable to answer the questions put by the Honourable Member.

However, it can state at this stage that any property development project for which the Council is the
contracting authority must observe the regulations of the host State, subject to the Protocol on the
privileges and immunities of the European Communities of 8 April 1965, and the provisions of the
Financial Regulation of 25 June 2002 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (1),
in particular those on public procurement.

(1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(2003/C 137 E/133)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2769/02

by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Safety categories in the European road network

(1 October 2002)

There is apparently a European project to divide roads into four safety categories, ranging from one to
four stars. Can the Commission provide some more information about this initiative?

What is the purpose of the four safety categories?

How many roads in Belgium are being assigned to each of these categories?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(8 November 2002)

Unsafe roads are one of the factors contributing to the high number of casualties in the Union.

The Automobile Association Foundation for Road Safety Research in the United Kingdom has proposed a
scheme called European Road Assessment Programme (‘EuroRAP’). It is planned to present the information
collected and produced to the public in a simple and understandable way:

(cid:1) By risk rate maps: Stretches of road are awarded between zero and four stars according to the accident
rates for a certain number of recent years and then this rating is represented in different colours.

(cid:1) By a road protection score: In this case, stretches of road are assessed according to the degree by
which they deviate from best practice of infrastructure design. The roads are also video filmed.

The primary objective of EuroRAP is to reduce road injuries and fatalities, but also, as secondary
objectives, to create risk awareness amongst road users and to develop best practice for infrastructure
design for interurban roads and junctions.

C 137 E/118

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

12.6.2003

Most of the British trunks roads are already represented in accident rate maps. Similarly, maps exist for
trunk roads of the Netherlands and for a few roads in Sweden. To date, EuroRAP has not received finance
from the Union, but EuroRAP plans to develop further their approach and transfer it to three more
countries in cooperation with local automobile clubs during the next months. For this work, a grant
application has been submitted to the Commission. At this point in time, no concrete plans exist to extend
it to Belgium, but in the medium term this could be feasible.

To reduce the number of fatalities by 2010 by half, the Commission has proposed a set of measures in its
White Paper on ‘European transport policy for 2010 (1)’, such as best practice of a more harmonised road
engineering, black spot management and road safety audits.

(1) COM(2001) 370 final.

(2003/C 137 E/134)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2778/02

by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission

(3 October 2002)

Subject: European identity card

Article 17 of the EC Treaty confers citizenship of the Union on every citizen of a Member State. In the
absence of a European identity card Community legislation stipulates that only two documents can be used
to prove the nationality of a European citizen in the event of a check inside the Community (cid:1) a national
identity card or passport.

In this context, does the Commission not consider that the relevant documents should also include the
residence permit?

Does it not consider that a residence permit, precisely because it is issued by the public authorities of the
place of residence on the basis of data taken from the national identity card or passport, is as valid and
official as identity papers?

issued by virtue of a
Does the Commission not consider that not recognising the residence permit,
European legislative act, as valid evidence of identity would mean undermining the concept of European
citizenship enshrined in the EC Treaty?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(18 October 2002)

The Commission would refer
Mr Bodrato (1).

(1) OJ C 110 E, 8.5.2003, p. 40.

the Honourable Member

to its answer

to written E-2300/02 by

(2003/C 137 E/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2782/02

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 October 2002)

Subject: Fluoride in public water supply

Is it permissible for a minister for health in any of the EU Member States to forcibly medicate any part of a
population with random doses of a medicinally unproven and unlicensed substance, i.e. fluosilic acid?