Directive 2011/82/EU aims to facilitate the cross-border exchange of information on road‑safety‑related traffic offences.

Improving road safety is a prime objective of the Union’s transport policy. An important element of this policy is the consistent enforcement of sanctions for road traffic offences committed in the Union which considerably jeopardise road safety. The new Directive 2011/82/EU will ensure that the investigation of road-safety-related traffic offences also applies to non-resident drivers. This new instrument will fill an important gap in the enforcement chain, thus enabling the exchange of information needed to follow through the efforts of police and enforcement authorities to achieve full compliance with traffic law and improve road safety. Once the new directive is in place, it will also make a contribution to reducing the 30 100 deaths on Europe’s roads each year.

The Commission welcomed the agreement reached between the legislators on this file, but decided on 25 January 2012 to challenge the legal basis before the Court of Justice, as it considers that Article 91(1)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on transport, is the correct article for legislating on road safety (although it explicitly requested to the Court that the effects of the legislation be maintained until a new directive has been adopted with the correct legal basis). Following this action, we are concerned that some Member States may be less likely to prepare for the directive’s implementation.

1. What action will the Commission take if Member States do not meet the deadline of 7 November 2013 for the transposition of the directive?

2. What further support is the Commission giving to support the Member States in preparing for the directive’s implementation?

3. Under Article 8 of Directive 2011/82/EU, Member States and the Commission will now have a legal duty to inform non-resident road users about existing rules in the different Member States. What arrangements is the Commission putting in place to communicate with EU citizens about the application of the directive?