WRITTEN QUESTION E-1982/99

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(5 November 1999)

Subject: Safety in the city

It is generally believed that many European towns and cities are becoming increasingly unsafe, thus generating a climate of fear and anxiety among the public.

Although this is not strictly an area for which the Community is responsible:

1. Is the Commission nevertheless able to provide statistics regarding this phenomenon?

2. Could the Commission not suggest that the Member States ensure that public sector employees who work in public places, and private employees such as taxi-drivers who provide a public service, can be automatically connected to police stations as the necessary technology is now universally available so that they can report a dangerous or threatening situation at once, possibly simply by pressing a button, and obtain immediate assistance?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(3 December 1999)

1. As the Honourable Member points out, the Treaty of Amsterdam does not make explicit provision for Community powers in the field of urban safety. However, at the Tampere European Council, the Heads of State or Government expressed their desire to see national crime prevention programmes developed. This would involve exchange of best practices and strengthening cooperation networks. Priorities might be juvenile delinquency, urban crime and drug-related crime. With this in mind, a request was made to examine the possibility of a Community-financed programme.

With regard to the collection of crime statistics, this is currently carried out independently by the Member States, using their own criteria and in accordance with their own internal legislation. For this reason, it is not possible at present to examine or compare available data. The Commission considers it necessary to act on this need and is about to propose a draft programme to be called Euclid. Its purpose will be to provide the Union with an instrument for comparison of police and judicial crime statistics. Once it has been adopted by the Council, after consultation with Parliament, the instrument will be developed in future years in close cooperation with national departments in these two areas, with the help of Eurostat and Europol.

2. The Commission notes the Honourable Member's suggestion of providing an automatic connection to the security services for those who work in public places, so that crimes can be reported as soon as they occur. It would point out that all Member States have a single emergency services number (112) and a single number for the police. The idea of a number specifically for certain professions, as the Honourable Member suggests, would have to be examined carefully to assess the advantages and disadvantages of such a scheme.

As a first step, it would probably be useful to look at the experiences of some of the Member States and, where necessary, to encourage the provision of information on such measures, which must be introduced at local level and with the agreement of the various partners involved. The Oisin Community programme could provide assistance for evaluating such measures. The Commission would then have to see whether such provisions could be put forward on a broader scale as part of an overall approach to preventing delinquency.