Representatives of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) presented the President with a banner representing the ‘Let’s Go’ campaign, which calls for a new European target to reduce serious road injuries, alongside an existing target to reduce deaths by half by 2020.

The campaign’s supporters include seven EU member state transport ministers, MEPs from across the political spectrum as well as campaigners and experts from more than 70 organisations across Europe.

The ETSC added that the European Commission had been planning to introduce a serious injury reduction target until last year and the concept had already gained support from both the European Parliament and EU member states.

Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), said: “EU targets have been a very successful driver of reductions in road deaths with several countries cutting deaths by more than 60% since 2001. But in recent years, progress on reducing serious injuries has slowed to a halt, and even gone into reverse. Our message to President Juncker today is that a European road safety target is a simple, cheap, non-controversial and necessary step – there is no good reason to delay European action further.”