WRITTEN QUESTION E-0722/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(15 March 2002)

Subject: Risk of collapse because of non-standard construction methods for motels and restaurants belonging to the Van der Valk concern with branches in various EU Member States

1. Is the Commission aware that in the Dutch town of Tiel, on Sunday 10 February, the rooftop car park of the local motel, built between 1982 and 1986, collapsed and that this accident could have claimed many lives if it had occurred during the computer fair which had just ended or after the planned conversion of the car park into a permanent events hall?

2. Is the Commission also aware that the motel referred to in question 1 belongs to the Van der Valk concern, which operates a host of hotels, restaurants and recreational facilities in the Netherlands, many designed and built by its own construction firm, usually using more light-weight foundations, cheaper construction materials and non-standard designs and furthermore also exploiting many local authorities' efforts not to hinder in any way the process of attracting a well known concern's motel with restaurant

annex onto their territory and that, as a result, during construction, the customary checks on material quality, load bearing capacity and stability are eased or dispensed with?

3. Is the Commission furthermore aware that in the Netherlands this state of affairs, where there are usually no design drawings and calculations, as a result of which a number of buildings may possibly collapse completely or partly in future, has prompted checks not only by local authorities with responsibility in this area, but also by inspectors from the Ministry for Public Housing, Regional Development and the Environment, as to how Van der Valk's buildings came to be constructed and what materials were used in the process?

4. Is the Commission aware that there are Van der Valk branches outside the Netherlands, too, at least 21 of which are in EU Member States, i.e. 13 in Germany (some of which were originally planned on the basis of a contract with the former GDR), six in Belgium (mostly in Flanders), one in France (Saint Aygulf) and one in Spain (Barcarola)?

5. In view of the scale of this problem and the possible disastrous consequences, is the Commission prepared to be of assistance to national and regional authorities in the Member States concerned in passing on information on this method and help detect concealed problems as quickly as possible?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(26 April 2002)

The Commission does not have any specific information concerning the accidents to which the Honourable Member refers, nor has it to date been contacted or asked for assistance in this matter by the Netherlands authorities.

Member States are solely responsible for provisions relating to the construction and safety of buildings and for investigating any accidents resulting from a failure to comply with these provisions.

In relation to construction, the only relevant Community instrument is Directive 89/106/EEC(1), which nevertheless only regulates construction products(2) with a view to placing them on the Community market. The Directive in question states that Member States are responsible for ensuring that building and civil engineering works on their territory are designed and executed in a way that does not endanger the safety of persons.

While including mechanical resistance and stability of construction works among the essential requirements applicable to construction products, this Directive does not actually regulate the safety of buildings and other completed works.

As the Community is not responsible for the safety of buildings, the Commission does not have at its disposal any specific procedures or networks for assisting the competent national and regional authorities, for example in identifying risk situations.

(1) Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products OJ L 40, 11.2.1989.

(2) Any product which is produced for incorporation in a permanent manner in construction works.