A renewed focus on road safety as a key element of a sustainable EU Tourism Strategy has been welcomed today by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). This follows the adoption of a resolution by the European Parliament on the EU Tourism Strategy which has the goal of promoting Europe as the world's no. 1 tourism destination.

“FIA research shows more than half of holiday trips are made by car, therefore increased road safety should be the backbone of a sustainable EU tourism policy,” said Jacob Bangsgaard, Director General of the FIA Brussels office, which represents 100 Touring and Motoring Clubs in Europe, as well as Africa and the Middle East, totalling more than 36 million members. “For this reason, the FIA welcomes the European Paarliament’s efforts to refocus the Commission’s proposal on road safety” said Mr Bangsgaard.

The European Parliament calls in today’s resolution for the Commission “…to improve the enforcement of consumers and passengers rights; laments in particular the fact that road accidents are the most frequent cause of death among travellers; calls, therefore, for harmonised traffic regulations and safety standards, e.g. harmonised traffic rules for roundabout traffic”.

Paolo Diamante, Chair of the FIA Working Group on Tourism, said: “In the year that the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety was launched worldwide, the new EU tourism strategy should consider road safety for families driving abroad as a top priority.”

The FIA has launched its own ‘Action for Road Safety’ campaign as a leading contribution to the challenges raised by UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. Children and young adults are involved in a disproportionately large number of road accidents. Lowering this unwelcome statistic is a key aim of the FIA Action for Road Safety campaign (see more here)

Notes to the Editor:

EU Tourism Strategy

The European Commission’s Communication on “Europe, the world's No 1 tourist destination” outlines a policy supporting this essential sector of the European economy. It further proposes initiatives to promote its competitiveness, its sustainable and quality-based development and the visibility of Europe as an outstanding tourist destination.

A press conference with EP's rapporteur Carlo Fidanza and Antonio Tajani, vice-president of the European Commission, on a new EU Strategy to promote "Europe as the world's no. 1 tourist destination" will take place on Tuesday, 27 September 2011, at 16:00 in Strasbourg, following the plenary vote on the resolution drafted by MEP Carlo Fidanza (EPP, IT).

UN Decade of Action/FIA Action for Road Safety Campaign

In 2007, FIA member clubs collected 1.2 million signatures amongst their members for a petition submitted to the United Nations which asked for road safety measures to be taken, with the aim being to save millions of lives over the next ten years. In March 2008, the petition was handed over to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and in March 2010, the UN General Assembly decided to initiate the Decade of Action for Road Safety from 2011 to 2020.

According to UN figures, 1.3 million people are killed on the world’s roads each year and unless action is taken now, annual road deaths are forecast to rise to 1.9 million by 2020. The goal of the decade, endorsed by 100 governments, is to “stabilise and then reduce global road fatalities by 2020”. More information on the UN Decade of Action can be found here.

The FIA Brussels Office

The FIA Brussels Office represents 100 Touring and Motoring Clubs in the European Union, as well as Africa and the Middle East, which total more than 36 million members. The FIA represents the interest of these members as motorists, public transport users, pedestrians and tourists.

The FIA’s primary goal is to secure a mobility that is safe, affordable, sustainable and efficient. With these aims in mind the work focuses on Road Safety, Consumer Protection, Environmental Protection, and the promotion of Sustainable Motoring.

For more information please contact Niall Carty, Communications Manager, FIA Region I: ncarty@fia.com (Tel: 0032 2 282 0812 or 0032 486 650 216).