WRITTEN QUESTION E-0881/98 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (26 March 1998)

Subject: Telephone numbers of police, fire and ambulance services in the Member States

The emergency numbers for calling the police, fire and ambulance services vary among the Member States. The lack of harmonisation creates problems for Member States' nationals visiting other Member States on holiday or business who find they are unable to make an emergency call to the police, fire or ambulance services because they do not know the numbers used in the country concerned.

Will the Commission take the initiative to harmonize the emergency telephone numbers in the Member States of the Union, which will benefit all its citizens who will no longer be forced to waste valuable time finding the appropriate numbers when human lives are at stake?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (15 May 1998)

The Honourable Member stresses the need for a common European access number for emergency services. In fact, this need was recognised by the Parliament and others already back in the early 1990s.

In response, the Council adopted on 29 July 1991 Decision 91/396/EEC ((OJ L 217, 6.8.1991. )) on the introduction of a single European emergency call number. The Decision requires the Member States to ensure that the number '112' is introduced in public telephone networks as well as in future integrated services digital networks and public mobile services, as the single European emergency call number. The Decision allowed for parallel implementation with existing emergency call numbers.

Although the Decision specified that the single European emergency call number should be introduced by 31 December 1992, it allowed for derogations if that date would be impossible or too costly to achieve (until 31 December 1996). As the implementation of the single emergency access number in some cases required a significant restructuring of national numbering plans, which is a complicated and time consuming operation, a number of Member States requested such derogation.

The Commission has followed closely the transposition and implementation process of Council Decision 91/396/EEC in all Member States, and has reported on this issue to the Parliament's commission on petitions on numerous occasions (2 February 1995, 22 November 1995, 9-13 June 1997). Infringement proceedings were launched last year against three Member States (Portugal, Spain and Greece) which had not yet notified national implementation measures. Following the notification of national measures, it became clear that problems relating to transposition had been solved in two of these Member States (Portugal and Spain). As a consequence, the corresponding infringement procedures have been closed. Greece has not yet however communicated any measure in this regard.

With the exception of the Member State which has not yet transposed the Council Decision, the Commission is not aware of any problem concerning implementation of '112' in Europe.

The Commission will continue to follow this dossier closely and, where necessary, to take supplementary appropriate actions to ensure Community wide availability of the single emergency call number.