12.^.90 Official]ournal of the European Communities NoC^21 
a specific Opinion but can merely question various points 
andunderhne the reservations expressed above. 
7.2. Inaddition, theCommittee isfully aware of the 
progress of discussions within the Community institutions, 
in particular the conclusions of the Ecofin Council 
meetings on90ctoberandl^November 1989. 
7m5 Itwould therefore point out that^lUecember 1992 
is too tightadeadlmefor themtroductionof ageneral 
system of taxation in the country of origin.Atransitional 
arrangement, running froml]anuary!99^ for as shorta 
period as possible, whereby transactions carried out by 
interested parties will be ta^ed in the country of 
destination,should thereforebe introduced. 
Done at Brussels, 19 Decemberl989. 
C^enerai comments 
1. d^he Committee approves the Commission^sproposal 
in general and approves the increased allocation offunds to 
the ErdPASS programme in particular. 
2. Lhe Committee recalls that the original demonst 
ration project set up under what became the EldEASS 
programme took the collection of accident statistics from 
hospitals as its starting pomt.Lhe objective was to provide 
information and analyses of suchaccidents, including an 
assessmentonatnalanderrorbasis,ofthefailuresand 
successes of the system. 
2.1. rhe new proposal covers an extension of the 
hospital data collection and the carrying out of ^sup 
plementarystudies^ofdataobtamedfromother inform 
ation sources. 7B1. It should alsoberememberedthat administrative 
formalities must be kept toamimmumtoavoidunmstified 
increases in firms^costs,which ultimately hitthe consumer. 
7.^. Onder the new rules border checks will anyway 
havetobescrappedinfavourof ta^control withmthe 
Member States, backedbysuitable forms of cooperation 
and exchange of information between the ta^ authorities. 
7.^. Ereedom of movement and purchases by private 
individuals will also have to be guaranteed by lifting 
restrictions on dutyfree allowances. Here far reaching 
alignment of rates isdesirabletoavert significant distortion 
ofcompetition. 
^. d^he Committee would refer to its Opinions) on the 
original proposal which was adopted as Council Decision 
8^1^8^EEC of 22 April 198(^^, setting up the EPIEASS 
project. 
^. ddie Committeedraws attention once again to the 
necessity for the EldEASS programme to be integrated into 
other Community actions^referred to in paragraph 1.7.^3 of 
its original Opinion),such as ESPE^ir,l^^eD,and the new 
mpproaclPontechnicalharmoni^ation and standards. 
^t.l. As an extension of this concept the Committee 
would like to see the EldEASS programme more fully 
integrated into the various consumer information actions 
recently adopted or currently under consideration, e.g. 
EeapidE^change of Information on Consumer Products, Opinion on the proposal foraC^onncd Decision amending Decision 8^1^8^EECconcerninga 
demonstration project withaview to introdncingaCommnnity system of information on 
accidents involving consumer products and filing the financial allocation for the last two 
years of its operations) 
(90BC^2B09) 
On9Novemberl989 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,under 
Article 198oftheLreaty establishing the European Economic Community,on theabovementioned 
proposal. 
rhe Committee instructed its Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and 
Consumer Affairs to prepare its work on the matter. Mrs Williams was appointed 
^.apporteurOeneral by the Committee in the course of its work. 
At its 272nd Plenary Session (meeting of 20 Decemberl989) the Economic and Social Committee 
unammouslyadopted the following Opinions 
^oie^e^,^mm^,^7 
No C 62/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 12. 3. 90 
General Security of Products, Toy Safety, Anti-Poison 
Centres, etc. The ultimate aim should be the creation of an 
'umbrella' information system for use by central and local 
government, industry, and all concerned with safety 
standards, publicity and education. 
4.2. In this connection the Committee welcomes the 
statement in the annex to the proposal which under the 
heading 'Impact on public opinion' says: 
'The development of this demonstration project and the 
establishment of a permanent system of statistical 
information on accidents involving consumer products 
should help to improve the standard of product safety 
and provide for preventive measures and the establish­
ment of priorities, the European citizen being the prime 
beneficiary'. 
5. In its original Opinion (paragraphs 1.2 and 1.3) the 
Committee drew attention to the rather loose usage in the 
Commission's proposal of the term 'consumer products', 
and asked that a more precise definition be formulated, but 
this has not been done to date, and the Committee therefore 
repeats its request in this regard. Perhaps the concept of 
'products used in normal and personal life' could also be 
introduced. 
6. The Committee endorses the need for the Commis­
sion to retain a strong role in coordinating national 
systems, with appropriate machinery set up to monitor the 
activities of Member States. Without the involvement of a 
coordinating body, the EHLASS project will dissolve into a 
multiplicity of national schemes. 
7. The Committee considers that ways must be found of 
improving the statistical validity of the data collected so 
that priorities for further research and action can be 
identified. 
7.1. Thus, in the Member States, there are different 
patterns of hospital use for casuality victims. There must be 
a definite effort to overcome this problem — such as 
research to indicate the proportion of the population in 
each Member State which is treated in hospital. 
7.2. Furthermore, the EHLASS programme could be 
used to identify specific problems (for example, in 
equipment used for child safety), in respect of which 
recommendations to CEN/CENELEC could be made. 
Done at Brussels, 20 December 1989. 8. The Committee points to the need for better 
administrative procedures to be devised, inter alia, so that 
money due to hospitals participating in the scheme is paid 
without delay. 
9. The Committee welcomes the publication of Annual 
Reports at national and Community level, and urges that 
these be made widely available in a uniform and consistent 
format. 
9.1. Access to computer printouts should be available to 
all with a clear need, bearing in mind that the con­
fidentiality factor must be taken into consideration. 
10. Finally, the Committee urges the Commission to 
consider now what follow-up action will be necessary 
when the current EHLASS programme terminates at the 
end of 1991. 
Specific comments 
I. On new paragraphs of Article amending Article 4(2) of 
Decision 86/138/EEC: 
New paragraph 2 
Replace the first sentence so that it reads: 
'... to prepare and publicize annual reports on the results 
obtained'. 
New paragraph 3 
Replace the first sentence so that it reads: 
'The Commission shall initiate and carry out the 
studies...'. 
New paragraph 4 
It should be made clear in this text which Committee this 
Article refers to. 
11. Annex, point (d) 
More details should be given concerning the 'com­
plementary studies' for which ECU 3,8 million have been 
allocated. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE