26.7.93NoC201/6 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Opinionon:
—thecommunicationfromtheCommissiontotheCouncilonhomeandleisureaccidents,
and
—theproposalforaCouncilDecisionontheintroductionofaCommunityinformation
systemondomesticandleisureaccidents(!)
(93/C201/03)
On8March1993theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,under
Article198oftheEECTreaty,ontheabovementionedcommunicationandproposal.
TheSectionforProtectionoftheEnvironment,PublicHealthandConsumerAffairs,which
wasresponsibleforpreparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon
4May1993.TheRapporteurwasMissMaddocks.Co-RapporteurswereMrJaschickand
MrLow.
Atits306thPlenarySession(meetingof26May1993),theEconomicandSocialCommittee
unanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
1.Introduction onreportsfromMemberStates.Itisstatedthatthe
projecthascausednewinitiativestobetakeninthe
MemberStates,particularlyrelatingtoproductswhere
childrencouldbeinvolved,alsoinrelationtoelectrical
gardenimplementsandelectricalDIYtools.
1.6.Asaresultoftheinformationobtainedfromthe
demonstrationitisproposedthatanewsystembe
establishedforfiveyearsandre-examinedbeforethe
endof1994.1.1.UnderCouncilDecision81/623/EECof23July
1981,itwasagreedtoimplementapilotexperiment
relatingtoaCommunitysystemofinformationon
accidentsinvolvingproductsoutsidetheareasofoccu­
pationalactivitiesandroadtraffic.Theresultofthe
studyillustratedthefeasibilityofcollectinginformation
onthissubject,primarilyfromhospitalcasualtydepart­
mentsandsecondarilyfromothersources.
1.2.Asaresultofthepilotexperiment,under
CouncilDecision86/138/EECof22April1986,itwas
agreedtosetupademonstrationprojectforfiveyears,
effectivefromDecember1985,withaviewtotheposs­
ibleintroductionofaCommunitysystemofinfor­
mationonaccidentsinvolvingconsumerproducts.
1.3.Theobjectiveoftheprojectwastocollectdata
onaccidentswithaviewtopromotingaccidentpreven­
tion,improvingthesafetyofconsumerproductsand
informingandeducatingconsumersinthisarea.An
advisorycommitteeconsistingoftworepresentatives
fromeachMemberStatewasestablishedtooverseethe
settingupandthemanagementoftheproject.2.Generalcomments
2.1.WhilsttheCommitteeacceptsthattheproject
cannotbeconsideredtobeastatisticalinstrument,it
wouldappear,however,fromtheinformationsupplied,
thatitcouldbeusedasanindicatorforplanningsafety
measures,firstofallatMemberStatelevel,andthen
itcanbeexaminedtoseetowhatextentCommunity
measurescanbeusefullytaken.However,theCom­
mitteewouldstressthatfurtherthoughtmustbegiven
toimprovingthebasesoftheinformationcollectedin
theMemberStates,sothatithasmorerelevanceto,and
canbeinterpretedproperly,inotherMemberStates.
2.2.Itisnotclearhowtheinformationusedasa
basisforthestudywouldbecomparedandinterpreted
duetothefactthattencountriesuseinformationmainly
obtainedfromhospitalsources,whilsttheremaining
countriesusehouseholdsurveys.TheCommitteeurges
theCommissiontoexaminewhether,onthebasisof
thesetwodifferenttypesofprocedure,theremightbe
inaccuraciesintheconclusionsdrawnandalsourges
thatfurtherthoughtbegiventoobtaininginformation
onacommonbasiswhichcouldprovideamoreaccura­
tecomparisonandevaluation.1.4.On22October1990,underCouncilDecision
90/534/EEC,theoriginaldecisionwasamendedwhich,
interalia,extendedtheperiodcoveredbytheproject
fromfivetosixyears.
1.5.Thedemonstration projecthasnowbeencom­
pletedandanassessmentmadeoftheexercisebased
2.3.Whilstwelcominganyinitiativestakentoreduce
homeandleisure-related accidents,theCommitteedid(!)OJNoC59,2.3.1993,p.10.

26.7.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC201/7
notfinditpossibletoidentifyfromtheexplanatory
memorandum whethersomeofthemeasureslistedas
initiativesarisingfromthetrials,wouldnothavebeen
takenasaresultofnationalreportingschemes—where
theyexist.TheCommitteeconsidersthisinformation
tobeoftheutmostimportancetoensurethatmeasures
arebeingtakenfromnationalinitiativesaswellasfrom
Communityinitiativesinthisimportantsphere.
2.4.Theredoesnotappeartobealinkbetweenthe
proposedsystemandthemeasuresagainstdangerous
productslaiddownbytheProductSafetyDirective.
TheCommitteeconsidersthatthereshouldbeastrong
cross-linkestablishedasthiscouldimproveconsumer
protectionintheCommunity .
3.Specificcomments
3.1.Article1
3.1.1.Firstparagraph
TheCommitteewelcomestheproposaltoestablisha
Communitysystemofinformationonhomeandleisure
accidentswithaviewtopromotingaccidentprevention,
asasteptowardsmeetingtheCommission'sownclaim
ofensuringthesafetyoftheconsumerintheCom­
munity,inthewakeofthecompletionoftheinternal
market.Itisstressed,however,thatthesystemshould
servetoestablishaminimumbasisforappropriate
actiontobetakenbyMemberStates.
3.1.2.Secondparagraph
InitsOpinionontheproposalforademonstration
project(CES1369/89)theCommitteerequestedthata
moreprecisedefinitionbeformulatedthantheterm
'consumerproducts'andthisrequestisnowreiterated.
ThedefinitionunderArticle2(a)oftheGeneralProduct
Directiveisnotveryhelpfulinthisinstance.
Whilstitisstatedthatthesystem'sobjectiveistocollect
relevantdata'withaviewtopromotingaccidentprevention',thereisnoindicationhowsuchanactivity
willbemonitored,andtranslatedintopreventiveaction
whetheratMemberStatelevelorCommunitylevel.
3.1.3.Thirdparagraph
TheCommitteeconsidersthattheterm'accidentsat
work'shouldbesubstitutedfortheterm'industrial
accidents'asthisistheterminologymorewidelyused
andunderstoodintheCommunity .
3.2.Article2
3.2.1.Theplannedsystemprovidesonlyfor
nationallyorganiseddatacollection.Concernis
expressedthatthisdataisnottobepassedoncontinu­
allytotheCommission,noristhereevidentlytobeany
reciprocalexchange,theMemberStateshavingonlyto
presentafinalreportonceayear.TheCommittee
would,however,wishtobereassuredthatcontacts
wouldbemadebetweenMemberStatesandwiththe
appropriatesectionoftheCommission ,asandwhen
required,inordertomakethemosteffectiveuseofthe
informationavailable.
3.3.Article3
3.3.1.Firstparagraph
TheCommitteewouldstressthatitisoftheutmost
importancethatthereshouldbecompatibilityofthe
methodologies inthecollectionofdataifthemaximum
useistobemadebyallMemberStatesofthisexercise.
However,asatleasttwoMemberStateshavechosen
differentdatacollectionmethods,thecomparabilityof
thedatadoesraisedoubts.
3.3.2.Thirdparagraph
TheCommitteewelcomestheproposalthatthesum­
marisedprocesseddatashallbedisseminatedatCom­
munitylevelbutwouldurgethatconsiderationbegiven
totheCommissionmonitoringwhatstepsaretakenat
nationalleveltoensuretheeffectivedissemination and
useofthedatawithintheindividualcountries.
DoneatBrussels,26May1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN