Briefing: European Commission Interim evaluation of the Policy orientations on road safety 2011-2020

In June 2015, half way to 2020, the European Commission published its review of the ‘Road Safety Policy Orientations’ (RSPO), a framework with the objective of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2020 published in 2010.

The review consists of a set of three documents: a European Commission Staff Working Document, a European Commission Interim Evaluation Report and a study commissioned to independent expert Jeanne Breen.

In 2010 the road safety community had hoped for, and expected, a new EU 10-year action programme providing a vision, priorities and a detailed road map against which performance could be measured and delivery made accountable. The RSPO fell short of those expectations. This mid-term review of the Road Safety Policy Orientations is still lacking a timetable, which is sorely needed to structure and prioritise the main measures for adoption and implementation.

This short briefing reflects ETSC’s analysis of the Commission’s review and urges the European Union to redouble efforts in the field of road safety and to strengthen and expand the scope of action needed to reach the 2020 target.

An earlier briefing, published last November as input to the Commission’s review process,contains ETSC’s detailed analysis of the implementation of the Road Safety Policy Orientations so far.