Speech Oostenrijkse transportminister bij opening Transportraad (en)

Informal Meeting of Transport Ministers began today in Bregenz

At a press conference to start off the Transport Ministers Informal in Bregenz, Transport Minister and Council President Hubert Gorbach announced that cross-border road safety would be the central theme of the two-day meeting.

"Cross-border safety culture is not an empty phrase, but a mission. This is a very topical issue for Europe, for Austria, for Vorarlberg. The aim is to cut the number of deaths in road traffic and save lives", Council President Gorbach stressed, adding that more than 40 000 people had been killed in road accidents in the European Union in 2005, and 1.2 million world-wide. Awareness-raising measures in the field of road safety were therefore crucially important. Austria, for example, was currently running the "Belts save lives" campaign, which included TV and radio adverts focusing on the importance of child seats and mandatory wearing of seat belts. According to Gorbach, this had helped to reduce the number of deaths on the roads in Austria by 30%. More people were now wearing seat belts. This campaign would now be presented to European Transport Ministers. "It is important to learn from each other and achieve synergies. The aim is to agree a uniform pan-European road safety campaign", Gorbach said.

Also on the agenda are the Commission's draft infrastructure directive, the revision of the Transport White Paper and Commissioner Jacques Barrot's mid-term review of the European road safety action programme. "The Commission's White Paper sets pointers for the future and has as its objective a modern, sustainable transport policy, which takes account of economic, social and environmental factors" Gorbach said. He also stressed the need to break the link between economic growth and the continuous growth in traffic. He added that it was important to restore the balance between transport modes. The Transport Ministers will also discuss the issue of "eSafety". Among other things, a visit to the ÖAMTC (Austrian Automobile Association) Road Safety Centre in Röthis is on the programme.