De Palacio waters down drink-drive plan

Date: 20/01/2000

By Renée Cordes

TRANSPORT Commissioner Loyola de Palacio is backing away from plans to propose binding EU-wide alcohol limits for drivers, amid fears that the idea would be shot down by member states.

In a report due to be discussed by the full Commission next month, De Palacio will recommend that member states with higher limits should reduce the permitted level of alcohol in motorists' blood to 0.5 grams per litre. But officials say she is almost certain to leave it to individual governments to decide whether to act.

The Commissioner's aides have been urging her to resurrect a controversial proposal launched by the previous Commission, which would make it illegal to drive with more than 0.5 grams of alcohol per litre of blood anywhere in the Union, since she took office last autumn.

Although most EU countries have already introduced this limit, four (Ireland, the UK, Italy and Luxembourg) allow 0.8 grams per litre while Sweden, which has one of Europe's best road-safety records, has a limit of just 0.2 grams per litre.

Member states rejected attempts by Neil Kinnock to introduce a Union-wide limit of 0.5 grams when he was Transport Commissioner, invoking the principle of subsidiarity and arguing that this was a matter which should be dealt with at national rather than EU level.

Instead of opening up old wounds, De Palacio is expected to call for a non-binding recommendation as part of a broader communication outlining a five-year action plan for improving road safety. But officials have not ruled out the possibility that she might come forward with proposals for obligatory Union-wide restrictions later.

News that De Palacio is likely to shy away from a potentially explosive clash with EU governments has been greeted with dismay by road-safety campaigners.

Ivan Sorensen, a spokesman for the European Transport Safety Council, insisted that non-binding recommendations would not be adequate to reduce traffic deaths. "We will have to have something which is enforceable," he said.

The group claims that a Union-wide limit of 0.5 grams would reduce the number of lives lost in the EU each year in alcohol-related accidents from 9,000 to 8,000. It is also calling for an upper alcohol limit of 0.2 grams per litre of blood for new, less experienced drivers.

Its concerns have been echoed by British Labour MEP Mark Watts, who planned to join the Transport Safety Council in voicing concern over the move at a meeting with De Palacio this week.

In addition to the recommendation on alcohol limits, next month's report from the Commissioner will suggest bolstering current EU seat-belt rules and installing 'speed limitors' in light trucks. These devices, which are already mandatory in heavy trucks, prevent vehicles from travelling faster than 90 kilometres per hour.

Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio is backing away from plans to propose binding EU-wide alcohol limits for drivers, amid fears that the idea would be shot down by Member States.