New EU transport commissioner commits to halve road deaths and serious injuries by 2030

Adina-Ioana Vălean, a Romanian politician, MEP and chair of the European Parliament’s Industry committee will take over from Violeta Bulc as European Commissioner for Transport from 1 December.

Mrs Vălean was approved for the role at a European Parliament hearing on 14 November.  In her opening statement to MEPs she said: “25 000 [deaths] per year is simply unacceptable. We should share the objective of halving the number of road deaths and serious injuries by 2030 compared to 2020.”

Later at the same hearing, in answer to a question from a member of the Parliament’s transport committee, she affirmed: “for road safety we are committed to zero vision, zero deaths in 2050. We put a strategy in place and I plan to promote it strongly. With strategy comes actions.”

The new Commissioner will join the team headed by new President Ursula von der Leyen on 1 December.  The make-up of the new Commission was approved by EU Member States on 25 November and by the European Parliament two days later in a Strasbourg vote.

Romania’s initial choice for Commissioner, Rovana Plumb, was rejected by an earlier European Parliament hearing on the grounds of concerns over undeclared loans and transparency.

In a “mission letter” to the future Commissioner-designate, Mrs von der Leyen said in September: “Cutting across all of your priorities is the need for the highest safety standards. This is becoming all the more important as traffic increases and security threats become ever more complex.”