Matthew Baldwin

Matthew Baldwin, DG MOVE Deputy Director General, was appointed in October 2018 as European Coordinator for Road Safety. The aim is to help drive forward the new road safety strategy as set out in the Commission's third Mobility Package  in May 2018 – to deliver on the EU commitment to cut deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030.  The role involves the coordination of road safety efforts with Member States, the European Parliament, cities, regions and all stakeholders in the road safety community.

Mr Baldwin commented in 2018: "It is a great honour to be entrusted with this important work. We want to intensify cooperation with the Member States and the whole road safety community to deliver the Safe System approach across Europe. Deaths and serious injuries are NOT the inevitable price we need to pay for our mobility.  I will focus relentlessly on results, on bringing down the death and serious injury numbers, because while the EU is the region with the safest roads in the world, we can and must do a lot better."

Matthew Baldwin combines this role with work on sustainable urban mobility, where the Commission has now published a new Urban Mobility Framework.  As our mobility becomes greener, more sustainable, it is vital that safety is also carefully considered.  There is no true sustainable mobility without safety.  So Baldwin places a lot of emphasis on protecting vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. As we build back better after the COVID pandemic, we need to put a priority on safe and active mobility in our towns and cities across the European Union. 

In 2021, Baldwin was also appointed Mission Manager of the Horizon Europe Mission to deliver 100 climate neutral and smart cities across the European Union by 2030.

Background

In June 2017 the Transport Council reconfirmed the Commission's long term goal of zero fatalities in road transport by 2050. New interim targets to reduce both the number of road deaths and serious injuries by 50% between 2020 and 2030 were also set. Following the Council's request, the Commission proposed in May 2018 a common framework for road safety and a strategic action plan, based on the Safe System recommended globally by the World Health Organisation. Its overriding objective is to address the causes of deaths and serious injuries in road crashes  accidents in an integrated way, building layers of protection that ensure that, if one element fails, another will compensate – so for example, focusing on ensuring vehicles and infrastructure are as safe as possible, and tackling excessive speed.    

Biography

European Coordinator for Road Safety/Sustainable mobility, Matthew Baldwin

Matthew Baldwin has been Deputy Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Transport and Mobility since 2016 and was appointed as European Coordinator for Road Safety and related aspects of Sustainable Mobility on 1 October 2018, and in 2021 as Mission Manager of the Mission for 100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030. 

Previously in the Commission, he has worked in DG Trade and DG MOVE, and he has served in the Cabinets of Commissioner Pascal Lamy, President Jose Manuel Barroso and Commissioner Jonathan Hill. 

He has two children and is a keen but increasingly slow cyclist.

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