Phil Bennion (ALDE). - Mr President, last year over 1[nbsp ]700 people were killed on roads in the UK. Although that death toll is falling, and in international terms it is actually a good statistic, it is still too high. Installing the eCall device could save more lives by speeding up response times by a few critical minutes.

Currently, the installation is only voluntary and only 0.4% of cars are fitted with the device. This is a good reason why installation of the devices should be mandatory – I say installation, as whether these should be turned on or not is a different matter. Because of the voluntary aspect, eCall is mainly offered at the moment in luxury cars.

I would like to stress two points that are absolutely essential for me as a Liberal Democrat, which are that the privacy of individuals is to be guaranteed in every case and that the GPS coordinates shall strictly be used by the rescue teams for that rescue purpose.

Last but not least, Member States need to ensure that the whole rescue chain is eCall ready – from mobile phone coverage to emergency control centres – so that the consumer has full confidence in the system. Of course, this means having a workable mobile phone network and reception throughout all of the Member States. In that way, we can ensure that there will be a system that is fit for the purpose and delivers greater safety for road users.