The Excellence in Road Safety Awards ceremony, the most important event of the European Road Safety Charter initiative, was held on 12 November 2008 in Brussels.

 This third edition brought together high-level representatives of the European Commission and more than 150 representatives involved in road safety actions from all 27 Member States.  The ceremony was chaired by Mr Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Transport, who welcomed “the growing interest in the Charter from civil society and the private sector”, stressing that “the reduction of the number of victims is not just the responsibility of the public authorities”.  The European Road Safety Charter currently has more than 1,200 signatories representing companies, associations, institutions and public authorities. The Vice-President Tajani and the Director for Inland Transport at the European Commission, Mr Enrico Grillo Pasquarelli, presented six signatories with an awards in recognition of their efforts to safer roads in Europe: 

• FirstGroup plc (United Kingdom) – Large companies and multinationals’ category
• A.E.K. Football Club (Greece) – SME’s category
• Madrid Association of Roadside Assistance Companies (Spain) – Federations and associations’ category
• Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) – Institutions’ category
• Qrendi Scout Group (Malta) – NGO’s category
• Braşov City Hall (Romania) - Regions and Cities’ category

These signatories have adopted a pro-active attitude, contributing to the achievement of a shared goal: improving road safety conditions. At local, regional, national or European level, their commitments have brought a road safety concept to life.  To demonstrate their involvement in road safety prevention initiatives, 15 new European representatives signed the European Road Safety Charter in the presence of Ms Isabelle Kardacz, Head of the Road Safety Unit at the Directorate-General For Energy and Transport of the European Commission: 

• ASIROM – Vienna Insurance Group (Romania)
• Belgacom (Belgium)
• Brembo S.p.A (Italy)
• British Telecommunications plc (United Kingdom)
• Cimpor Indústria de Cimentos SA (Portugal)
• DHL Express (Ireland)
• Electricity Supply Board (Ireland)
• General Lab (Spain)
• ILPAP (Greece)
• Kamenitza AD (Bulgaria)
• Novartis International (Switzerland)
• Red Bull GmbH. (Austria)
• Slovenská televízia - Slovak Television (Slovakia)
• Slovenske železnice (Slovenia)
• TAP Portugal (Portugal)