On 6 April 2004, I hosted a meeting of Transport Ministers from the current EU member states and the accession states to specifically discuss road safety. The EU Road Safety Action Plan proposes a 50% reduction in road deaths across the EU by 2010. At national level, the road safety strategy which I will soon be publishing contains a demanding primary target of a 25% reduction in road collision fatalities by the end of 2006 over the average annual number of fatalities in the 1998-2003 period. Achievement of the target will result in no more than 300 deaths per annum by the end of the period of the strategy. This target will contribute to the longer term EU goal.
I also facilitated the first signing ceremony for the Commission's Road Safety Charter, which is a central element of the EU Road Safety Action Plan and which gives the opportunity to both public and private organisations and members of civil society to make specific, measurable commitments to road safety.