Malta must follow seat belt directive to the letter - Brussels

The European Commission expects the Maltese authorities to fully enforce the provisions of the EU seat belt directive in the interests of child safety.

This was stated by a Commission spokesman yesterday while answering questions by The Times on the directive which supposedly came into force in Malta earlier this month.

Originally, the EU directive came into force in all the EU member states on May 9, 2006. Malta got a two-year extension to give service providers time to implement the law. However, it seems that despite the May 9 deadline, the Maltese authorities are still not enforcing the law and the chairman of the Minibus Cooperative, Charles Mercieca, has said that "pandemonium would ensue" if the law were to be followed. He explained that more children than seats available were allowed on minibuses.

The European Commission yesterday made it clear that this state of affairs is unacceptable and that Malta has to follow this directive "to the letter".

"Malta was not granted any exception and has to fully follow all the provisions of this directive," a Commission spokesman said. He explained that when discussions were held over this law, member states could have asked for exceptions but Malta did not. "Member states are not entitled to allow vehicles to carry more children than there are seats and seat belts available unless they have reached an agreement with the Commission for granting of the exception laid down in article 6 (6) of the directive," he said.

According to this article, member states may, with the Commission's consent, grant exemptions in order to take account of the specific conditions of the use of M2 and M3 vehicles for local transport in urban and built-up areas or where standing is allowed. (M2 vehicles are vehicles for transport of up to nine persons and M3 are those able to carry more than nine persons.)

The spokesman explained that another exemption that can be granted, if asked for, is for member states to allow children of under 150 cm and at least 135 cm in height to be restrained by a safety belt for adults instead of a child restraint system as is the main rule in the relevant Council directive.

However, Malta has not applied any exemptions.

According to EU laws, the Maltese authorities are responsible for the enforcement of EU directives and the Commission can institute infringement procedures against a member state if it is found that EU laws are not being enforced.