Carriage of dangerous goods: officer for the prevention of the risks in industries of transport

The rapporteur, Mr WATTS (PSE, UK), considered that the directive was aimed at filling a gap and at ensuring that safety practices were harmonised throughout the Member States. The directive stated that ‘undertakings will take responsibility for the protection of persons, goods and the environment’. The rapporteur was critical of the fact that the scope of the directive had been restricted (air transport was excluded) and proposed that it should enter into force as soon as possible (on 1 January 1998). Moreover, he considered it essential that accident reports should be transmitted to the relevant authorities in the Member States within a period of two months and that the Commission should draw up lists of all the accidents that had taken place within the territory of the EU on the basis of information received annually. Commissioner KINNOCK thought the directive was ‘a new step forward in our strategy on transport safety. We want to harmonise and promote best practices’. The Commission was unable to take over the proposed amendments, given the compromise that had been reached within the Council.