WRITTEN QUESTION E-2480/99

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) and Mauro Nobilia (UEN) to the Commission

(16 December 1999)

Subject: Housing safety standards

Recent instances in which residential buildings have collapsed (last year in Rome, this year in Foggia), apparently without any specific cause, in other words not as the result of gas leaks or earthquakes, have not only led to casualties but given rise to fears amongst the inhabitants and justified concern among public officials over the minimum safety standards for buildings.

By analogy with the action taken to lay down minimum standards for electrical installations and to ensure that the lifts are in proper working order in residential buildings, so as to guarantee the safety of the general public, can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Can it indicate whether any directives exist, or are being drawn up, which lay down technical safety standards for the construction of dwellings?

2. Does it know what percentage of dwellings in the Member States might be a safety risk, either because of natural causes (earthquakes and floods) or because of the age of the building and the use of completely out-dated technologies?

3. Does it believe that part of the Structural Funds could be earmarked for construction work to make buildings safer?

4. In the alternative, and without waiting until 2006 to reform the objectives of the present Funds, can it provide in future budgets for the setting-up of an ad hoc Fund to give an incentive to use special bank loans for this purpose?

5. In view of the climatic changes which have occurred in various European regions and have led to many natural disasters in the past few years, can it initiate a study of the current situation in Europe to monitor sites at risk because of their geological features and to lay down, therefore, new technical standards for buildings?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(19 January 2000)

The Commission shares the fears expressed by the Honourable Members regarding the risk of residential buildings collapsing within the Community, apparently without any specific cause.

The Commission is aware of the need to harmonise the various types of works, products, materials and building systems, and is currently concluding work on the implementation of 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(1).

This Directive is based on the six fundamental requirements structural stability being the most important which products must meet in order to be incorporated permanently in construction works. It is therefore what is called a new approach directive, in that it establishes a link between the works and the products, whose suitability must be proven. Suitability is assessed on the basis of compliance with the harmonised technical specifications currently being drawn up by the standardisation bodies.

It is the responsibility of the Member States to assess risks to the stability of buildings in a natural disaster, as a function of their age.

In addition, Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999(2), laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds, does not provide for any earmarking of funds to restore and secure existing buildings, and at present there is no budget heading which provides a specific fund for this purpose. However, Article 2.2.(e) of the new Regulation (EC) No 1783/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 1999 on the European Regional Development Fund(3) provides the possibility of cofinancing measures for the protection and improvement of the environment, in particular taking account of the principles of precaution and preventative action in support of economic development mldr.

The monitoring of regions considered to present a geological risk because of climate changes is also solely the responsibility of the Member States, while the development of technical parameters based on progress and new knowledge for example, binding measures will normally be taken into account in establishing harmonised technical specifications.

(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989.

(2) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.

(3) OJ L 213, 13.8.1999.