In 2008, around 39 000 people were killed in road collisions in the EU27, less than in 2001 but still far from the 27 000 limit which the EU set for itself in its Road Safety Target for 2010, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), a Brussels-based independent not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the reduction of transport accidents in Europe, said.

On June 22 2009, the ETSC Road Safety Performance Index (Pin) report showed that all EU27 countries showed a significant decrease in traffic-related deaths during 2008 compared to 2001 - the largest decrease since that year - the ETSC said there were two exceptions; Bulgaria and Romania.

The Pin programme was launched in June 2006 to compare country road safety performances and includes 30 countries.

Malta, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK remained the safest European countries roadwise, the ETSC said.

The EU as a whole seemed unlikely to reach its 2010 target, the ETSC concluded. "The EU15, which originally set the Target, might halve the number of deaths with only two years’ delay," Graziella Jost, ETSC PIN Programme Manager, said.

"But for the EU27 reaching the target on time appears unrealistic, since it would require an annual reduction of 17 per cent in both 2009 and 2010," Jost said.

"Of course setting targets does not guarantee their achievement. Although ambitious, the EU target could have been achievable had all countries provided stronger political will for the required interventions," Claes Tingvall, of the Swedish road administration office was quoted as saying.