EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2009 - 2014

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

2010/2274(INI)

24.5.2011

OPINION

of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

for the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

on universal service and the '112' emergency number (2010/2274(INI))

Rapporteur(*): José Manuel Fernandes

(*) Associated committee - Rule 50 of the Rules of Procedure

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SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety calls on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1. Points out that according to the survey published in February 2011 only 26% of EU citizens can spontaneously identify 112 as the number to call for emergency services in the EU, and points out that 58% of EU citizens still disagree with the statement that people in their country are adequately informed about the existence of the 112 emergency number1;

2. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to further step up their information work, so that the emergency number 112 reaches all EU citizens and travellers through the media, particularly the print and audiovisual media, by means of information campaigns as the 'EU-wide' emergency number, and to organise and support promotional activities to raise public awareness, in particular in educational establishments and universities, , and events held each year on 11 February, which has been established as 'European 112 Day'; special attention should be paid to the practical information such as stressing that 112 is the European emergency number, reachable from fixed and mobile phones free of charge, everywhere in the EU;

3. Calls on all Member States to ensure that the 112 number is displayed predominantly on all emergency vehicles including police, ambulances, fire engines and other services;

4 Calls on the Commission and the Member States also to promote 112 as the ‘EU-wide’ emergency number online and on radio, two of the most common media for young people and people who travel often; highlights that only 16% of people aware of the 112 number heard via radio and that only 11% via the Internet;

5. Notes considerable disparities among the Member States as regards to the knowledge of the European emergency number 112 and calls on the Member States to share their experiences and exchange the best practises in order to achieve at least 80% spontaneous identification of 112 emergency number as the number to call emergency services anywhere in the by EU citizens by 2020;

6. Calls on the Member States to take the measures needed to reduce the number of unsuccessful emergency call attempts, shorten call set-up and response times, reduce the number of hoax/false calls and improve the provision of information as regards caller location; calls on Member States to exchange best practices regarding the blocking of calls from SIM-less mobile phones;

7. Stresses the need to improve access to the universal emergency service via the new electronic communications technologies or broadband services;

1 The European Emergency Number 112, Survey Flash Eurobarometer, 2011, http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/112/docs/report_2011.pdf

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8. Calls on the Member States to improve access to emergency calls for disabled persons, the elderly and vulnerable groups and to promote the efficient handling of emergency calls in foreign languages, in the light of the increased mobility of EU citizens;

9. Calls on Member States and the Commission to take the necessary measures to facilitate access to the universal emergency service via means alternative to voice, such as text messaging, email or fax for special categories of vulnerable people, such as those with hearing impairments;

10. Calls on the Commission, in close cooperation with Member States, to establish key performance indicators and guidelines as regards the quality of the 112 service, taking into account the need for accessibility, for interoperability between emergency services, for multilingualism and for timely and qualitative interventions of emergency services. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the requirements concerning the 112 emergency number are properly implemented;

11. Calls on the Commission to designate independent bodies to carry out an evaluation and to report, by the end of 2012 at the latest, the real state of implementation of the 112 number throughout the EU as experienced by the citizens. In this respect, the Commission is also invited to provide by the same date an overview of legally binding and practically implemented intervention times in the EU and to extend the impact study prepared in the eCall framework to the human and financial consequences of the functioning of the 112 number;

12. Calls on the Commission to draw an action programme to support experience sharing and exchange of best practices between EU emergency services, by setting-up a network of experts, focusing on regular exchanges of information during meetings and discussion platforms, and visits of emergency call centres and joint training programmes involving National Regulatory Agencies, emergency services and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). It should also support the deployment of the 112 service in EU candidate and neighbouring countries;

13. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take, as soon as possible and no later than the end of the current legislative term, the appropriate actions to include the creation and maintenance of a pan-European, multilingual, accessible to all and efficient «reverse 112» - i.e. an early warning system for citizens using telecommunications in case of imminent or developing major emergencies and disasters throughout the EU- in the scope of the Universal Service;

14. Calls on the Commission to examine the feasibility of a future 116 service similar to the 112 service for citizens in emotional distress, suffering from depression or other mental health problems.

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RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

Date adopted 24.5.2011 Result of final vote +: 56 –: 1 0: 0 Members present for the final vote Elena Oana Antonescu, Sophie Auconie, Sandrine Bélier, Sergio Berlato, Milan Cabrnoch, Martin Callanan, Nessa Childers, Chris Davies, Esther de Lange, Anne Delvaux, Bas Eickhout, Edite Estrela, Jill Evans, Karl-Heinz Florenz, Elisabetta Gardini, Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Julie Girling, Nick Griffin, Françoise Grossetête, Jolanta Emilia Hibner, Dan Jørgensen, Christa Klaß, Holger Krahmer, Jo Leinen, Corinne Lepage, Peter Liese, Kartika Tamara Liotard, Linda McAvan, Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, Vladko Todorov Panayotov, Gilles Pargneaux, Andres Perello Rodriguez, Sirpa Pietikäinen, Pavel Poc, Vittorio Prodi, Oreste Rossi, Dagmar Roth- Behrendt, Daciana Octavia Sârbu, Carl Schlyter, Horst Schnellhardt, Richard Seeber, Theodoros Skylakakis, Bogusław Sonik, Salvatore Tatarella, Åsa Westlund, Sabine Wils, Marina Yannakoudakis Substitute(s) present for the final vote José Manuel Fernandes, Matthias Groote, Riikka Manner, Marit Paulsen, Rovana Plumb, Marianne Thyssen, Michail Tremopoulos, Marita Ulvskog, Vladimir Urutchev, Anna Záborská

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