LEGAL ASPECTS OF POLICE COOPERATION IN CROSS BORDER ENFORCEMENT OF TRAFFIC OFFENCES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Santrauka

Traffic offences are one of the most important cause of fatalities and bad injuries traffic accidents. EU Commission identified DUI (Driving Under Influence of alcohol and/or drugs), overspeed, misuse of seatbelts and distraction during driving time as the “fatal four”. To obtain the reduction of 50% of the victims on the roads (as the main target imposed to MS during the 2011-2020 period) is mandatory to reduce the total number of specific violations. Statistics show that more than 90% of the offences committed by non-residents were not followed-up at the EU level, causing a lack of effectiveness for the penalties. A better police cooperation in Cross Border Enforcement of traffic offences is one possible solution to the specific problem. The legal basis of this specific kind of cooperation, able to produce an effective solution, obtaining transnational effectivity for specifically and most dangerous traffic offences, is the so called “CBE-Cross Border Enforcement” Directive, nr. 2011/82/EU, dated 25th October 2011, facilitating the cross border exchange of information on road safety related traffic offences, replaced, after the 6th May 2014 European Court of Justice Decision nr. (ECJ)43/12, by the new Directive nr.2015/413/EU, adopted on 11th March 2015 and having the same subject, with a legal basis under the EU Transport Policy and referred to article 91(1)(c) TFEU. The analysis of actual situation also suggests a future improvement od CBE in MS, with the possibility to improve the number of transnational traffic offences covered by the Directive, based on article 91(1)(c) TFEU.