WRITTEN QUESTION P-0249/02

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(31 January 2002)

Subject: Funding for a prototype riding helmet (L-TC158 WG 5) DG Enterprise

Riding helmets currently available are not totally safe.

On the basis of a petition forwarded to the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions (Petition No 1030/96 of 28 April 1996), the Commission has asked CEN to draw up a high-specification safety standard for safety helmets. If the work of Working Group 5 (L-TC 158 WG 5) is to progress smoothly, funding will be required to cover the cost of developing a prototype helmet. Now that a proposal, based on quotations submitted by Limerick University, Ireland, for testing and by DERA for manufacture of a new high-technology prototype, has been drawn up, will the Commission please indicate the reason for the delay in the allocation of funds and when those funds will be made available?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(6 March 2002)

The Honourable Member's assertion that riding helmets are not completely safe is accurate. This is corroborated by the introduction of standards on helmets in Europe and other parts of the world. More specifically, the European standard (EN) 1384:1996 on Helmets for equestrian activities, which was subject to an amendment published in October 2001, includes the following introductory statement:

The protection afforded by a helmet depends on the circumstances of the accident and the wearing of a helmet does not always ensure the avoidance of death or long-term invalidity.

Standard EN 1384 defines and quantifies the basic requirements of Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment (PPE)(1). Whilst application of the standard is voluntary, it ensures a high level of protection for users, in accordance with the objectives of this Directive adopted under Article 95 of the EC Treaty. It has not been the subject of a safeguard clause, i.e. officially called into question by the Member States' administrations.

The work on standardising riding helmets forms part of a general programme of rationalising and standardising normative requirements in the field of head protection. It should, however, be stressed that the experts in the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Working Group responsible for standard EN 1384 (TC 158 WG5) have very different approaches and points of view regarding the requirements and methods of measurement to be adopted. These divergences within WG5 have been echoed at Parliament level, as pointed out by the Honourable Member, particularly through petition No 1030/96 of 28 April 1996, which closed on 20 March 2000.

In this context, the CEN is continuing to carry out technical work on the speedy revision of standard EN 1384:1996, on the basis of a Commission mandate. The Commission, which is responsible for implementing Directive 89/686/EEC, is paying particularly close attention to standard EN 1384, and has worked more on this standard than on the 300 or so other standards concerning PPE put together.

Leaving aside the technical differences among the CEN experts, applications for the financing of study projects which seek to support standardisation work are examined by the Commission under financial procedures which seek to ensure the transparency and optimum allocation of the resources at its disposal. The funding application for a prototype riding helmet mentioned in the Honourable Member's question forms part of a study for which a quotation has been submitted to the Commission by the CEN. This quotation made provision for the research subsidies to be divided between representatives of the two main opposing groupings within this working group.

The Commission informed the CEN in a letter of 13 September 2000 that whilst there is no objection to the principle of funding the proposed tests, it is nevertheless necessary to follow the transparent procedure of a public invitation to tender in order to ensure the maximum possible level of impartiality. The Commission also asked the CEN, in a letter of 22 October 2001, to draw up a new quotation which takes account of how the work has developed in the interim.

(1) OJ L 399, 30.12.1989.