§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of(a) the maximum permitted blood alcohol level for driving on public roads and (b) the penalties for breach thereof in each of the 15 EU member states; and what proposals for changes in either (a) or (b) have been made by (i) the Commission affecting all EU member states, (ii) the United Kingdom Government affecting the United Kingdom only and (iii) other national Governments affecting their individual countries. [24984]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Government have been keeping the blood alcohol content (BAC) limit under consideration but have not made any proposals to change it. The Review of Road Traffic Penalties consultation contained some proposals to increase penalties for drink driving offences but no final decisions have yet been made on these.
In the European Union three member states in addition to the United Kingdom have a BAC limit of 80mg alcohol per 100ml of blood; these are Luxembourg, Ireland and Italy. We do not have a systematic comparison of anti-drink-driving enforcement measures in other countries. Member states have tended to develop different alcohol detection procedure, penalty regimes and approaches to publicity, education and rehabilitation. These reflect their 601W own national legislation and the capacity of the police and medical authorities in each country to conduct alcohol tests.
The European Commission adopted a recommendation on 17 January 2001 which proposed harmonisation of the BAC level at 50mg or below, as well as other aspects of control but not penalties. Such a measure is not binding on the member states.
I am not currently aware of proposals for changes in other member states but some countries have been considering measures such as lower limits for younger drivers.