WRITTEN QUESTION E-1790/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Work-related accident in Greece and disregard of victims

In September 1999 a huge earthquake struck Athens, resulting in the destruction of dozens of buildings and killing hundreds of people. Among the buildings destroyed was one belonging to the firm Ricomex, in Acharnes, Attica, where 39 people were killed and ten more were injured four of these have permanent disabilities. The destruction of the Ricomex building was described by the Greek authorities as a work-related accident and in fact was responsible for the highest number of fatalities of any such accident in modern Greece. Official findings by the competent Greek public authorities reveal who was responsible for the building's flimsy construction and the arbitrary decisions and contraventions which occurred, and demonstrate the building's overall inadequacy.

It should be pointed out that almost three years after the collapse nobody has been held liable and neither the victims' relatives or the injured have received any proper redress. The relatives of the dead receive a meagre pension from the state; and another typical example is an employee of the firm, now injured and disabled, who earned a gross salary in 1999 of 262 500 drachmas (i.e. EUR 770,35) but currently receives a disability pension of EUR 475,48. It should also be noted that solemn undertakings by Greek Government ministers made immediately after the accident regarding the employment of relatives of the victims and the injured by the Greek state have never been fulfilled. The firm itself did not pay damages to all those affected and claims that if it did so it would have to close down.

Could the Commission say whether in other EU countries victims of work-related accidents and their relatives receive compensation, and from what source? Could the Commission obtain from the Greek authorities the full financial details of the company involved (salaries of the members of the governing board, sales, profits, exports abroad, loan received by the firm and security provided for it, etc.), for the period from 1999 to now (details which are located in the Athens office of the service which deals with the taxation of companies)? Is it right that men who were pulled out of the rubble and are now disabled are not considered to be victims of a work-related accident because at the moment of the collapse they were in the building visiting the company? Is the Commission aware that children of the dead are required by the Greek authorities to pay exorbitant amounts in tax on real property transferred to them by their parents before they were killed in the accident?

Is there a comparable precedent in any other EU country for a work-related accident where there has been such delay in the dispensation of justice and such suffering for the victims and their relatives? Can the Commission take steps to find out the reasons for the delay, the lack of redress and the suffering of the victims and their relatives?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 2002)

The Commission does not have any information concerning work-related accidents resulting from the earthquake in Athens in 1999, or about the compensation paid in this connection. Compensation for occupational accidents is a matter for the Member States, and the Commission therefore does not have at its disposal the information requested by the Honourable Member.

For more details on social protection and occupational accidents occurring in the Member States and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Honourable Member can consult the Mutual Information System on Social Protection (MISSOC)(1), Table VIII, which sets out the risks covered in the event of accidents at work or occupational diseases.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/missoc98/english/f_main.htm.