Proposal for a EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION introducing a Community system of information on home and leisure accidets
Date: 1994-02-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, accident in the home, consumer information, consumer protection, information system, leisure, product safety

COMMISSION  OF THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

COM(94)  17  final 

Brussels,  08.02.1994 

94/0031 (COD) 

Proposal  for  a 
EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  COUNCIL  DECISION 
introducing  a  Community  system  of  information 
on  home  and  leisure  accidents 

(presented  by  the  Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

1.  SUBSIDIARITY 

(a)  What  are  fhe  objectives  of  the  proposed  action  in  relation  to  the  Community's 

obligations? 

The  objectives  of  this  proposal  for  a European  Parliament  and  Council  Decision  are to 
organize  and coordinate the collecting of data on home and leisure accidents with a view 
to  promoting  accident  prevention,  improving  the  safety  of  consumer  products  and 
informing  and  educating  consumers  so  that  they  make  better  use  of  products. 

These objectives  must be seen  as being in conformity  with Article  129a(2) of the Treaty 
establishing  the  European  Community,  since  the  proposal  seeks  to  sustain  and  expand 
an  already  in most of the Member  States developed  data collecting  system, and in  doing 
this  the  Community  is  contributing  to  strengthen  the  level  of  consumer  protection. 

(b)  Does  competence  for the planned activity  lie  solely with the Community  or is it shared 

with the  Member States? 

The  competence  is  shared  with  the  Member  States  (Article  129a(2). 

The  information  system  on  home  and  leisure  accidents  has  proved  to  be  an  useful  tool 
for  enabling  Member  States  to  define  their  policies  on  consumer  protection. 
In  this 
regard,  the  Community  system  of  information  could  complement  other  national 
structures. 

The  Community  coordinates the activities  conducted  at national  level  and contributes  to 
a  presentation  of  the  data  with  a  Community  aspect.  Financial  assistance  by  the 
Community  should  to  a  greater  extent  enable  a  number  of  Member  States  to  collect 
information  on  accidents. 

(c)  What is  the  Community  dimension  of  the  problem  (for  example,  how  many  Member 

States  are involved  and what solution  has  been used up to  now)? 

All  Member  States  have  a  national  system  of  collecting  data  on  home  and  leisure 
accidents.  As home and leisure accidents linked to or involving products occur in all the 
Member  States,  it  is  important  to  make  the  data  collected  in  each  of  them  available  to 
the  others  and,  if  necessary,  allow  a  reflection  on  whether  a  Community  action  should 
be taken.  A Community  system has been installed as a demonstration project  from  1986 
to  1992  and  the  Council  has  on  the  29  October  1993  adopted  a decision,  which  sets  up 
an  information  system  for  a period  of  one  year. 

(d)  What  is  the  most  effective  solution  taking  into  account  the  means  available  to  the 

Community  and those  of  the Member States? 

It  is  the  responsibility  of  the  Member  States  to  collect  data  and  to  draw  the  political 
conclusions. 

Due  to  the  single  market  and  the  increasing  circulation  of  goods,  it  is  necessary  and 
more efficient  to have coordinated national  methodologies  so that the conclusions of one 
Member  State  can  be  used  in  other  Member  States  as well  as  at the  Community  level. 

(e)  What real added value will  the  activity  proposed  by  the  Community  provide  and what 

would  be the  cost of  inaction? 

The  system  provides  a  coordinated  presentation  of  the  collected  data  so  that  each 
Member  State can make use of its own results as well as the results of the other  Member 
States.  Without any  community  support, the national  system of data collection  might be 
weakened  in  some  Member  States  where  the  structure  is  less  developed. 

Without  a  Community  action,  there  is  a  risk  of  discrepancy  in  the  level  of  consumer 
protection  in  the  Member  States  and  a  further  development  of  a  national  accident 
less  developed 
prevention  system  may  be  jeopardized 
infrastructures. 

in  Member  States  with 

(f)  What  forms  of  action  are  available  to  the  Community  (recommendation,  financial 

support, regulation, mutual recognition, etc.)? 

The  proposal  does  not  harmonize,  but  coordinates  already  existing  national  data 
collection  systems  and  thus  a regulation  or  a  directive  would  be  inappropriate. 

As  a  Community  action  is  necessary  and  as  financial  support  also  is  needed,  a 
recommendation  seems  to  be  inadequate  and  therefore  the  Commission  proposes  a 
Council  Decision. 

(g)  Is it necessary  to have  a uniform regulation or a directive  setting  out sufficient  general 

objectives, leaving  implementation  at the level  of  the Member States? 

See  point  (f)  above. 

2. 

JUSTIFICATIONS 

Decision  86/138/EEC  sets  up, for  a period  of  five  years, a demonstration  project  with  a 
view  to  the  introduction  of  a Community  system  of  information  on  accidents  involving 
consumer  products  (EHLASS). 

The  initial  objective  of  this  project  was  to  identify  areas  in  which  preventive  measures 
necessary  to  ensure  product  safety  could  be  developed.  The  Decision  provided  for 
Community  financial  support  for  the  collection  of  data  from  casualty  departments  of 
selected  hospitals  in  the  Member  States.  The  Federal  Republic  of  Germany's 
participation  has  taken  the  form  of  a household  survey. 

the  demonstration  project,  which  came 

The  second  phase  of 
to  an  end  on 
30  November  1991, saw  a  consolidation  of  existing  structures  and  an  improvement  in 
methodologies.  It was possible to identify  the underlying  problems which  prevented  the 
project  from  achieving  its  initial  objective  and to  make progress  towards  their  solution. 
Firstly,  in  order  to  improve  the  quality  of  the  data,  the  methodologies  must  be  made 
more  homogeneous  and  the  possibilities  of  including  additional  sources  of  information 
has to be foreseen;  secondly, if the data collected  are to be used for  a particular purpose, 
a  more  pragmatic  approach  must  be  adopted  to  the  codification  of  the  products 
concerned.  Lastly, the time taken  to  obtain  information  will  have to be  reduced  and  the 
process  of  updating  the  information  simplified  by  further  computerization  of  data 
collection  in  the  Member  States. 

Despite  a  series  of  problems  involving  its  implementation,  EHLASS  has  proved  to  be 
a useful  tool for  enabling Member  States to define their policies on consumer  protection. 
Annual national reports show that the system, which contains a large number of products, 
makes  it  possible  to  identify  products  involved  in  home  and  leisure  accidents  on  the 
basis of criteria adopted  in all the Member  States, such as rate of hospitalization,  average 
length  of  stay  in  hospital,  localization  of  injuries,  age.  In  addition,  the  EHLASS  data 
complement other national  structures  which  either  deal with  emergencies  or cover  every 
type of accident (health insurance, for  example) or are used for  standardization  purposes. 
Action  taken  on  the  basis  of  EHLASS  data  varies  but  can  be  divided  into  three 
categories  : prevention  (information  or awareness campaigns), negotiation  with  industry 
to  modify  products,  introduction  of  standards  or  regulations. 

Numerous  measures  in  a  variety  of  fields  have  been  undertaken  in  the  Member  States 
on  the  basis  of  EHLASS  results:  child  safety  and  products  intended  for  children  (toys, 
playing  areas, child  care  articles); the  elderly;  sports  (in  particular  paragliding,  physical 
training  equipment,  aquaparks  and  swimming  pool  covers);  fireworks;  chemical 
poisoning; falls, including those involving ladders and step-ladders; electrical  equipment, 
in  particular  garden  implements  (especially  lawn-mowers  and  hedge-cutters),  kitchen 
equipment  and  DIY  tools  (in  particular  circular  saws). 

Against this background, the Commission presented  in  1993 a proposal  for  a Community 
system  of  information  on home  and  leisure  accidents, for  a period  of  four  years, for  the 
following  reasons: 

-  the safety  of consumers in the Community  must be ensured in view of the  completion 
of  the  internal  market  on  1  January  1993  when  more  and  more  products  will  be 
circulating in the Community.  As a result, the risks faced  by consumers will increase, 
and  it  is  desirable  to  have  national  monitoring  and  prevention  systems  which  are 
sufficiently  homogeneous to enable the conclusions  drawn  in one Member  State to be 
used,  where  appropriate,  in  the  other  Member  States  and  at  Community  level; 

-  the  entry 

into  force,  on  29  June  1994,  of  Council  Directive  92/59/EEC  of 
29  June  1992  on  general  product  safety  will  increase  the  demand  for  specific 
information  on the products involved in accidents, as well  as on the circumstances  and 
causes of these accidents.  In particular,  it must be possible for the national  authorities 
responsible  for  monitoring  the  market  to  use  this  information  in  their  work  in  order 
to  detect hazardous  products  and  thus  prevent  accidents. 

Furthermore,  the  Commission  must  have  access  to  the  specific  information  it  needs  in 
order  to  evaluate  the  serious  and  immediate  risk  presented  by  certain  products  in 
accordance  with  the  procedure  referred  to  in  Article  8 of  this Directive  providing  for  a 
Community  procedure for the rapid exchange of information  on dangers arising from  the 
use  of  consumer  products: 

-  Community  involvement  is  required  to  enable  the  Member  States  to  overcome  the 
difficulties  associated  with  the collection  of  data  at national  level.  This is needed  for 
methodological  and  budgetary  reasons  because  if  no  Community  assistance  were 
forthcoming,  in particular financial  assistance, this would deal a blow to the collection 
of  information  on  accidents  in  a  number  of  Member  States,  a  development  which 
would  seriously  distort  the  monitoring  of  consumer  safety  in  the  Community.  The 
technical  expertise  of  Eurostat  in  the  field  of  methodology  will  greatly  improve  the 
statistical  soundness  in  the  data  collection. 

The discussion  in the Council on the proposal  showed that there was a need for  allowing 
Member  States  to  collect  data  by  using  the  alternative  method  of  household  surveys 
instead  of  collecting  through  a network  of  hospitals.  As the  purpose  of  collecting  data 
is  to  prevent  accidents  and  thus  improve  consumer  safety,  and  as  the  management  of 
consumer  safety  is primarily  the responsibility  of  each  Member  State, the choice of  one 
or  the  other  method  does  not  endanger  the  final  objective  of  the  proposal. 

In  October  1993, the proposal  was  adopted  by  the  Council  but,  due to  specific  reasons, 
only  for  one  year.  However,  the  Commission  still  finds  that  all  the  abovementioned 
reasons  for  having  a  data  collection  system  are  valid. 

Given  this situation, the attached proposal  for  a Decision  for  four years  is in  conformity 
with  the  commitments  taken  in  October  1993  when  the  one-year  Decision  was  adopted 
and  it is  designed  to  meet  the  formal  request  from  almost  all  the Member  States  in  the 
Council.  It  takes  account  of  the  fact  that  it  is  above  all  the  responsibility  of  Member 
States to manage consumer  safety  and it is also in conformity  with Article  129a(2) as the 
proposal  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  special  action  seeking  to  support  and  supplement  data 
collecting  systems  already  existing  in  the  Member  States. 
It  takes  into  account  the 
preparation  of  specific  Community  action  with  regard  to  road  accident  data  which  are, 
therefore,  not  included.  It  also  takes  into  account  the  need  to  evaluate  the  system  as 
soon  as the  first  conclusions  have been  drawn,  i.e.  before  the  end  of  1996,  particularly 
in  view  of  the  budgetary  implications  and  the  expected  improvement  in  the  system  at 
Community level. The arrangements for Community financial  support could, for example, 
be  reexamined  at  this  time,  depending  on  how  far  Member  States  are  in  a  position  to 
assume  greater  responsibility  for  the  data  collection  operation. 

The Commission, for its part, coordinates and contributes to the smooth  implementation 
of  activities conducted at national  level.  This system therefore  aims to give the Member 
States  the  appropriate  means  to  take  action  by  disseminating,  where  necessary, 
information  on  home  and leisure  accidents  to  the  Community  and national  authorities 
concerned.  Finally,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  proposal  has  no  effect  on  small  and 
medium-sized  businesses. 

Proposal  for  a 
EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  COUNCIL  DECISION 
introducing  a  Community  system  of  information 
on  home  and  leisure  accidents 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article  129a(2)  thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission, 

Having  regard  to  the  opinion  of  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee(1), 

Whereas  the  establishment  of  a  Community  system  of  information  on  home  and  leisure 
accidents  forms  a component  part  of  a policy  on  consumer  protection  and  the  prevention  of 
accidents;  whereas  its  importance  in  this  respect  can  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  the  data 
collected in pursuance of the demonstration project  set up by Council Decision  86/138/EEC(2), 
as  amended  by  Decision  90/534/EEC(3),  are  being  put  to  specific  uses  by  several 
Member  States  for  the  adoption  of  measures  in  the  area  of  product  safety; 

Whereas  Council  Decision  93/683/EEC(4)  introduced  a  system  of  information  on  home  and 
leisure accidents for  one year in  1993; whereas the objective  of preventing  accidents  requires 
a  longer  period  and  whereas  a four-year  period  seems  appropriate; 

Whereas  national  policies  on  protection  of  the  health  and  safety  of  consumers  as well  as on 
prevention  of  home  and  leisure  accidents  are  already  being  implemented  in  all  the 
Member  States;  whereas,  however,  it  is  necessary,  due  to  the  increasing  circulation  of 
products  in  the  framework  of  the  internal  market,  to  provide  for  specific  action  in  order  to 
allow,  in  this  internal  market,  identification  of  the  products  involved  in  accidents  and  the 
combination  of circumstances  which  might lead to these accidents; whereas, for  this purpose, 
it  is  desirable  for  national  authorities  to  have  sufficiently  homogeneous  instruments  so  that 
the conclusions of one Member  State can, where appropriate, be used in other Member  States 
as well  as  at  Community  level; 

Whereas, although the management of  consumer  safety  is primarily  the responsibility  of each 
Member  State,  Community  financial  involvement  can  help  the  Member  States  to  overcome 
the problems of the actual  collection  of  data  at national  level; whereas the Commission  must 
therefore  provide  coordination  and  contribute  to  the homogeneous  implementation  of  action 
taken  at  national  level, by  promoting  the  dissemination  of  information  on  home  and  leisure 
accidents  to  all  the  competent  authorities; 

0) 
(2)  OJ No  L  109, 26.4.1986, p. 23. 
(3)  OJ No  L  296,  27.10.1990,  p.  64. 
(4)  OJ No  L  319,  21.12.1993, p. 40. 

Whereas a Community framework  and Community  financial  assistance are necessary to avoid 
major  distortions,  since  a number  of  Member  States  would  not  have the necessary  resources 
to  obtain  by  themselves  the  data  on  home  and  leisure  accidents  which  help  to  establish  a 
policy  on  consumer  protection; 

Whereas  steps should  be taken  to ensure the overall  quality  of the data and, in the context  of 
the  internal  market  and  Council  Directive  92/59/EEC  of  29  June  1992  on  general  product 
safety(5),  to  make  it possible  for  all  Member  States to  collect  the  information  needed  for  the 
monitoring  of  the  products  involved  in  accidents;  whereas  such  data  must  be  obtained  from 
hospital  casualty  departments,  or  alternative  sources  offering  equal  guarantees  of  reliability 
of  the  data; 

Whereas  the  Community  aspects  of  the  collection  of  data oblige  the Member  States to  use a 
homogenous  methodology  for  the  collection  and  production  of  information  for  transmission 
to  the  Commission;  whereas  this  constraint  is not  disproportionate  to the  objective  pursued; 
whereas, by  its very  nature, this  system  is not  appropriate  to  serve  as statistical  proof,  a  fact 
which  should  be  pointed  out  each  time  the  system  is  referred  to; 

Whereas  the  Commission  will,  for  the  application  of  this  Decision,  use  the  committee 
provided  for  in  Article  10(1)  of  Directive  92/59/EEC  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the 
Commission  in  defining  the technical  aspects in  connection  with  the  implementation  and  the 
improvement  of  the  system; 

Whereas  the  provision  of  specific  information  by  the  Member  States,  at  the  Commission's 
request,  on  products  or  groups  of  products  involved  in  accidents  is  necessary  for  the 
development  of  a  Community  policy  on  product  safety; 

Whereas  the  Member  States  must  also  be  in  a  position  to  make  annual  summary  reports  to 
the Commission; whereas the conclusions drawn by the Member  States in those reports should 
make  it  possible  for  the  Commission,  in  concert  with  the  Member  States, to  determine  what 
action  should  be  taken  at  Community  level; 

Whereas,  finally,  the  introduction  of  an  information  system  on  home  and  leisure  accidents 
appears,  under  these  conditions,  to  be  necessary  at  Community  level,  to  support  and 
complement  the  policy  carried  out  by  the  Member  States  in  this  important  area to  achieve  a 
high  level  of  consumer  protection  and  it  does  not  exceed  what  is  necessary  to  promote  the 
prevention  of  such  accidents;  it  is therefore  consonant  with  the  principle  of  subsidiarity, 

HAVE  ADOPTED  THIS  DECISION: 

Article  1 

1.  A Community  system  of information  on home and leisure accidents, hereinafter  referred 
to  as  "the  system",  is  hereby  set  up  for  a  period  of  four  years.  The  specifications  and 
operating  procedures  of  the  system  shall  be  as  set  out  in  Annex  I. 

(5)  OJ  No  L  228,  11.8.1992, p. 24. 

2.  The  system's  objectives  shall  be  to  collect  data  on  home  and  leisure  accidents  with  a 
view to promoting  accident prevention,  improving  the  safety  of  consumer  products  and 
informing  and  educating  consumers  so  that  they  make better  use of  products,  at both  a 
national  and  a  Community  level. 

3.  This Decision  shall not  apply  to occupational  accidents  and illness, nor to road, rail, sea 

or  air  traffic  accidents. 

Article  2 

1.  Member  States  shall  be  responsible  for  implementing  the  system.  They  shall  process 
directly  the  data  collected  and  submit  to  the  Commission  annual  reports  containing 
summaries  and  evaluations  at national  level  of  the  results  obtained  and  the  conclusions 
they  draw  from  those  results.  These  reports  must  be  forwarded  at  the  latest  at  the  end 
of  the  first  quarter  of  the  following  year,  for  the year  in  question. 

2.  Member  States  shall  supply  the  Commission,  at  its  request,  with  available  data  on  the 
safety  of  certain  products  or  categories  of  products  involved  in  home  and  leisure 
accidents,  and  the  circumstances  surrounding  such  accidents. 

3.  Member  States shall  designate the  authority  or  authorities  responsible  for  the  collection 
and  transmission  of  the  data  and  shall  inform  the  Commission  of  the  names  and 
addresses  of  those  authorities.  The  Commission  shall  forward  this  information  to  all 
Member  States  with  a  view  to  stimulating  the  exchange  of  information  between 
national  authorities. 

4. 

In the interests of transparency  in the use of Community  funds,  each Member  State shall 
ensure  appropriate  publication  of  the  report  referred  to  in  paragraph  1. 

Article  3 

1.  To  improve  the  compatibility  of  the  methodologies  used,  the  Commission  shall,  in 
accordance  with  the procedure  laid  down  in  Article  6(2), at the  latest  by  the  end  of  the 
first  year  of  the  system's  functioning,  and  on  the basis  of  previous  experience,  draw  up 
new  rules  concerning  codes,  definitions,  classification  of  the  data  and  the  presentation 
of the national  reports.  To this end the Commission  shall, in particular, take into account 
the  codes  and  models  already  existing  at  an  international  or  Community  level. 

2.  The Commission  shall  help finance  implementation  of the system in the Member  States, 

in  accordance  with  the  detailed  rules  laid  down  in  Annex  II. 

3.  The Commission  shall process, summarize  and publish  each year the data received  from 
the  Member  States  and  shall  disseminate  them  in an  appropriate  manner  at  Community 
level,  in  particular  to  the  Consumer  Consultative  Council,  to  European  or  national 
consumer  associations,  to  European  consumer  information  centres  and  to  European 
standardization  bodies.  This  information  will  be  directly  accessible  to  consumers  by 
means of the network  for  the  exchange of  information  on the rights of the consumers in 
the Community.  The Commission  shall  also undertake information  campaigns, in so  far 
as they  are necessary  at  Community  level. 

Article  4 

1.  The Commission  and the Member  States shall  ensure that, in the course of the collection 
and forwarding  of information,  all identifying  details or those which  enable identities to 
be  deduced  are  removed  so  that  the  identity  of  victims  remains  confidential. 

2.  Any  referenced  use  of  data  in  the  Member  States  in  official  publications  shall  be 
accompanied  by  the  following  statement:  "The  Community  system  of  information  on 
home  and  leisure  accidents provides  only  general  indications  and  cannot  be regarded  as 
statistical  proof  of  the  safety  or  lack  of  safety  of  a given  product". 

Article  5 

In  the  course  of  1996, the  Commission  shall  draw  up  an  assessment  report  on  the  operation 
of  the  system  together,  where  appropriate,  with  proposals  for  amendments,  in  particular 
proposals  for  amendments  to  the  arrangements  for  financial  support  and  the  allocation, 
between  the  Member  States,  of  hospitals  participating  in  the  system. 

By  31  December  1997, the  Commission  shall  draw  up  a final  report  on  the  implementation 
and  effectiveness  of  the  system. 

In  drawing  up  its reports, the  Commission  shall  take  due account  of  experience  gained  from 
previous  assessments  and  pay  particular  attention  to  the  following: 

-  the  timeliness,  quality  and  comparability  of  the  data  provided  by  the  Member  States; 

-  the  need  to  adjust  existing  codes  and  to  adopt  new  codes  and  common  coding  principles 

taking  into  account  the  increasing  number  of  new  products; 

-  the  ease of  access  to  information; 

-  the  enhanced  value  of  the  data  to  the  Member  States  and  the  Community. 

The reports shall be submitted  to the Council, the European Parliament  and the Economic and 
Social  Committee. 

10 

Article  6 

1.  The  Commission  shall  be  assisted  by  the  committee  set  up  by  Article  10(1)  of 

Directive  92/59/EEC. 

2.  The  representative  of  the  Commission  shall  submit  to  the  committee  a  draft  of  the 
measures to be taken.  The committee  shall deliver its opinion  on the draft,  within  a time 
limit  which  the  chairman  may  lay  down  according  to  the  urgency  of  the  matter,  if 
necessary  by  taking  a vote. 

The opinion  shall be recorded  in the minutes; in  addition, each Member  State shall  have 
the  right  to  ask  to  have  its position  recorded  in  the  minutes. 

The  Commission  shall  take  the  utmost  account  of  the  opinion  delivered  by  the 
committee.  It  shall  inform  the  committee  of  the  manner  in  which  its opinion  has  been 
taken  into  account. 

Article  7 

This Decision  shall  enter into force  on the day of  its publication  in the Official  Journal  of the 
European  Communities. 

It  shall  apply  from  1 January  1994. 

This  Decision  is  addressed  to  the  Member  States. 

Article  8 

Done  at  Brussels, 

For  the  Parliament 
The  President 

For  the  Council 
The  President 

11 

ANNEX  I 

SPECIFICATIONS  OF  THE  SYSTEM 

1.  The  system  shall  apply  to  home  and  leisure  accidents  which  are  followed  by  medical 
treatment  and which  occur  in the home or  its immediate  surroundings,  such  as gardens, 
yards  and  garages,  or  during  leisure,  sports  or  school  activities. 

2.  The  basic  information  shall  be  obtained  from  the  casualty  departments  of  hospitals 
selected  by  the  Member  States  in  accordance  with  the  limits  specified  at  point  4. 

The  Federal  Republic  of  Germany,  Luxembourg  and  Spain's participation  will  take  the 
form  of  household  surveys. 

3.  When compiling their national  reports, Member  States shall, wherever possible, take into 
account  additional  information,  including  that  obtained  from  poison-antidote  centres, 
death  certificates,  family  doctors,  burns  treatment  centres,  fire  services  and  emergency 
systems. 

4.  A special  attention  is brought to the quality  of the data, especially  to the  representativity 

of  the  hospitals,  to  the  regularity  of  the  surveys  and  the  extend  of  the  samples. 

The  data  shall  at  least  include  information  on: 

-  the  place  where  the  accident  occurred; 
-  the  date  of  the  accident; 
-  the  place  of  treatment; 
-  the  activity  of  the  victim  at  the  time  of  the  accident; 
-  the  type  of  accident; 
-  the  type  of  product  involved  in  the  accident; 
-  the  age  of  the  victim; 
-  the  sex  of  the  victim; 
-  the  type  of  injury; 
-  the  parts  of  the  body  injured; 
-  the  duration  of  treatment; 
-  a brief  description  of the accident  and  its causes (including,  where possible, the  main 

features  and  identifying  details  of  the  product  involved). 

This  information  shall  be  classified  in  accordance  with  the  common  criteria  of  the 
existing coding manual  and for  the future  according  to the rules as foreseen  in Article  3, 
paragraph  1 of  the  present  decision. 

12 

The  allocation  of  hospitals  among  the  Member  States  shall  be  as  follows  : 

Member  State 

Number  of  hospitals 

Belgium 
Denmark 
Greece 
France 
Ireland 
Italy 
Netherlands 
Portugal 
United  Kingdom 

4 
5 
4 
8 
2 
7 
7 
6 
11 

54 

As  far  as  possible  the  Member  States  should  make  their  best  efforts  to  ensure  the 
geographical  representativity  taking  into  consideration  the  aspects of  both  rural  and  urban 
communities. 

13 

ANNEX  n 

UTILIZATION  OF  FINANCIAL  SUPPORT 

1.  Community  financial  support  for  the  hospitals  participating  in  the  collection  of  data 
would be allocated  at a standard  rate representing  80  % of the actual costs in  1994, 70% 
in  1995, 60% in  1996  and  50% in  1997 up  to  a ceiling  of  ECU  28  000 per  hospital  for 
the first year and with  an adjustment  of the ceiling corresponding to the  abovementioned 
percentages  for  each  of  the  following  years. 

2.  Community  financial  support  for  the  household  surveys  in  Germany,  Spain  and 
Luxembourg  will  be allocated  at a standard  rate  of  80 % in  1994, 70% in  1995, 60% in 
1996  and  50% in  1997  of  the  actual  costs  incurred  up  to  a  ceiling  of: 

-  ECU  380  000  for  Germany 
-  ECU  225  000  for  Spain 
-  ECU  95  000  for  Luxembourg, 

the  first  year  and  with  an  adjustment  corresponding  to  the  abovementioned  percentages 
for  each  of  the  following  years. 

3. 

In  addition,  Community  financial  support  would  be  provided  as  a  contribution  to  the 
strengthening  of  the  least  developed  national  infrastructures,  in  particular  through  the 
development  of  appropriate  computerized  networks  and  so  that  Member  States  with 
operational  collection  systems  may  give  bilateral  technical  assistance  to  the  other 
Member  States. 

This Community  financial  support may not exceed 3,5 % of the overall  financial  support 
granted  by  the  Community. 

4.  Financial  support  is tied  to  the  submission  of  the  annual  report  referred  to  in  Article  2 

of  this  Decision. 

14 

FINANCIAL  STATEMENT 

1.  Title  of  operation 

Introduction  of  a  Community  information  system  on  home  and  leisure  accidents 

2.  Budget heading  involved 

B5-105 

3.  Legal  basis 

Article  129a(2)  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community 

4.  Description of  operation 

4.1  General  objective 

In  developing  Community  consumer  protection  policy,  there  is  a need  to  establish  a  system 
for  collecting  data  on  "consumer"  accidents,  so  as to  identify  the  categories  of  products  that 
give  rise  to  hazards.  This  will  help  to  provide  guidelines  based  on  the  data  gathered  as  to 
what  specific  measures  are  required. 

4.2  Period  covered  and  arrangements  for  renewal  or  extension 

1994-1997 

5.  Type  of  expenditure  or revenue 

5 1  DO/DNO 
DNO 

5.2  CD/CND 
CD 

5.3  Type  of  revenue  involved 

None 

6.  Type  of  expenditure  or revenue 

Subsidy  for joint  financing  with  other  sources  in  the  public  and/or  private  sector 

-  100% subsidy 

No.  80% in  the  first  year,  70% in  the  second  year,  60% in  the  third  year  and  50% in  the 
fourth  year 

-  Subsidy  for joint  financing  with  other  sources  in  the  public  and/or  private  sector 

Yes 

-  Interest  subsidy 

No 

-  Other 
No 

-  Should  the  operation  prove  an  economic  success,  is  there  provision  for  all  or  part  of  the 

Community  contribution  to  be  reimbursed? 
No 

-  Will  the proposed  operation  cause  any  change  in  the level  of  revenue?  If so, what  sort of 

change  and  what  type  of  revenue  is  involved? 
Not  relevant 

15 

7.  Financial  Impact 

7.1  Method  of  calculating  total  cost  of  operation  (definition  of  unit  costs) 

Part  B  of  the  budget 

1.  Work  done  by  the  Commission:  ECU  0.2  million 

-  methodology  and  data  collection 

-  dissemination  and  exploitation  at  Community  level  of  the  national  results  and  of  specific 

analyses.  Annual  report  (Art.  3,3). 

2.  Finances  allocated  to  the  Member  States  for  collecting,  processing  and  exploiting  the  data: 

ECU  2.3  million. 

-  support  for  the  hospitals  participating  in  data  collection  on  the  basis  of  54 hospitals  with 
the breakdown  shown  in Annex  1 of  the proposal  for  a decision  (80% of  costs in the  first 
year,  70%  in  the  second  year,  60%  in  the  third  year  and  50% in  the  fourth  year,  with  a 
maximum  of ECU 28 000 per hospital  the first year  and with  an  adjustment  of the  celling 
corresponding  to the abovementioned  percentages  for  each of the following  years), as well 
as a contribution  to  Germany,  Spain  and Luxembourg  using household  surveys (the same 
percentages  for  the  expenses  as mentioned  above  with  a ceiling  as described  in  Annex II, 
point  2  for  the  first  year  and  with  an  adjustment  corresponding  for  each  of  the 
following  years). 

-  support  for 

the  least  developed  national 

infrastructures,  notably  by  strengthening 

appropriate  data  networks. 

-  support  for  bilateral  technical  assistance  provided  to  other Member  States by  the  Member 

States  that  have  an  operating  data  collection  system. 

Total  of  Part  B: ECU  2.5  million. 

7.2.  Itemized  breakdown  of  cost 

Breakdown  for  1994 

1.  Work  done by  the  Commission 

2. 

54 hospitals  x  ECU  28  000 

household  surveys 

Germany  : 
Spain: 
Lux: 

ECU 

200  000 

ECU  1 512  000 

ECU 
ECU 
ECU 

380  000 
225  000 
95  000 

+  support  for  the  least  developped  countries 

+  support  for  bilateral  technical  assistance 

ECU 

88  000 

ECU  2  500  000 

16 

7.3.2  Schedule  for  the  preliminary  draft  budget  for  multiannual  operations  whose  basic 

instrument  contains  an  "amount  deemed  necessary" 

-  period:  1994-1997 

Budget  1994 

n+  1 

n  + 2 

n  + 3 

TOTAL 

ECU  2.5  mio 

ECU  2.2  mio 

ECU  1.9  mio 

ECU  1.6  mio 

ECU  8.2  mio 

From  1995  on  the  annual  provision  of  appropriations  for  this  line  will  be  decided  in  the 
context  of  the  annual  budgetary  procedure,  depending  on  the  results  of  the  measures  carried 
out  taking  into  account  the  cost-effectiveness  aspect  and  the  method  of  payement  described 
in  7.1.2. 

8.  What anti-fraud  measures  are planned in the  proposal  for the  operation? 

Verification  of the subsidies or of the acceptance of the preparatory, feasability  or  evaluation 
services or studies is carried out by the Commission  prior to payment, taking into account the 
contractual  obligations  and  the  principles  of  economy  and  good  financial  and  overall 
management.  Anti-fraud  measures  (monitoring,  submission  of  reports,  etc.)  are  included  in 
all  the  agreements  or  contracts  concluded  between  the  Commission  and  the  benificiaries  of 
the  payments. 

9.  ELEMENTS  OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS  ANALYSIS 

9.1  Specific  and  quantifiables  objectives;  target  population 

The  system  of  collecting  data  on  home  and  leisure  accidents  should  be  a  key  indicator  for 
determining  consumer  protection  policy  and  specially  prevention  policies.  This  objective  is 
difficult  to  quantify  in  that  an  in-depth  study  would  be  needed  in  order  to  determine  the 
precise socio-economic  costs - which  are certainly  very  steep - of home and leisure accidents; 
moreover  the  costs  in  human  terms  of  these  accidents  are heavy  but  not  quantifiable. 

92  Grounds  for  the  operation 

The measure  complements  existing  national  mesures.  The  collection  of  the measure  of  data 
from  hospital emergency services selected in the Member States or through household  surveys 
should  provide  direct  information  on  the  most  important  accidents,  on  the  basis  of  agreed 
methods  in the different  Member  States. Moreover,  the  data will  be  collected  on  an  ongoing 
basis.  A good  knowledge  of  data of  domestic  and  leisure  accidents  is vital  in order to  allow 
actions  and policies  of  prevention  of  these  accidents. The  objective  of  the  measure is in  line 
with  the  Directive  on  general  product  safety,  for  which  the  collection  should  provide 
indicators  on  safety  problems. 

Thanks to these objective  data the operational  impact  of this Directive, which  will  enter  into 
force  in  1994, will  be  significantly  enhanced. 

The  safety  of  consumers  in  the  Community  must  be  ensured  in  the  framework  of  the 
functionning  of  the  internal  market  when  more  and  more products  will  be  circulating  in  the 
Community.  As  a  result,  the  risks  faced  by  consumers  will  increase,  and  it  is  desirable  to 
have  national  monitoring  systems  which  are  sufficiently  homogeneous  to  enable  the 
conclusions drawn  in one Member  States to be used, where appropriate, in the other Member 
States  and  at  Community  level. 

17 

Community  involvement is required to enable the Member States to overcome the  difficulties 
associated with the collection  of data at national level.  This is needed for  methodological  and 
budgetary  reasons  because  if  no  Community  assistance  were  forthcoming,  in  particular 
financial  assistance,  this  would  deal  a blow  to  the  collection  of  information  on  accidents  in 
a number of Member  States, specially in those with less developped  administrative  structures, 
a  development  which  would  seriously  distort  the  monitoring  of  consumer  safety  in  the 
Community. 

9.3  Monitoring  and  evaluation  of  the  operation 

The  Member  States  should  provide  the  Commission  with  two  types  of  information: 

-  specific  data  on  specific  products,  in  line  with  the  needs  for  a  developing  consumer 

protection  policy  and  prevention  of  accidents; 

-  annual  reports from  the Member  States on the implementation  and results of the collection, 
on  the  basis  of  which  the  Commission  will  produce  evaluation  reports  of  the  system  at 
Community  level  (one  report  after  two  years  and  one  at  the  end  of  the  five  year  period). 

Moreover,  the  Commission  will  provide  an  annual  synthesis  report  on the  data collected  and 
the  conclusions  to  be  drawn  for  the  development  of  its  consumer  protection  policy. 

Imponderables  which  may  effect  the  specific  results  of  the  operation  lie  in  its  effective 
implementation  and, above all, the functionality  of the system in all the Member  States. These 
depend  on how  well  the two problems  identified  above  are solved,  in other  words  utilisation 
of the data  and their faster  availability,  and  in both these respects the Commission  will  do its 
utmost  to  ensure  success. 

9.4  Coherence  with  financial  programming 

Is the operation incorporated in the financial  programming of the DG for the years concerned? 
Yes. 

To  which  broader  objective  defined  in  the  DG's  financial  programming  does  the  objective 
correspond? 
Policy  on  general  product  safety. 

10.  ADMINISTRATIVE  EXPENDITURE  (Part A  of  the  budget) 

10.1  Will  the  proposad  operation  involve  an  increase  in  the  number  of  Commission  staff  ? 

No,  the  necessary  staff  could  be  made  available  by  internal  reattribution  of  the  functions 

10.2 

Indicate  the  amount  of  staff  and  administrative  expenditure  involved  in  the  proposed 

operation.  Explain  the  method  of  calculation-

Part  A  of  the  budget 

1.  Personnel  and  management  costs:  ECU  0.23  million. 

-  Secretariat  of  meetings  of  national  experts  responsible  for  collecting  and  transmitting  the 

data  on  home  and  leisure  accidents  (three  per  year) 

-  A  1178  Logistic,  methodological  and  financial  coordination. 

Assistance from  an external organisation in defining methodology concerning  determination 
of  product  codes, presentation  and  methods  of  analysis. 
Estimated  costs:  ECU  30  000 

18 

These  credits  are subject  to the  allocation  of the resources  which  are to be  decided  by  the 
Commission. 

-  Personnel:  1 A  official  (100%)  +  1 B  official  (100%)  +  1 C  auxiliaire  (50%). 

1  A  official  (100%)  titre  Al  et  A2 
1  B  official  (100%)  titre  Bl  et  B2 
A ll 10  1 C  auxiliaire  (50%) 

ECU  90  000  per  year 
ECU  90  000  per  year 
ECU  17 750  per  year 

The  personnel  and  management  costs  will  be necessary  from  March  1994  for  the  C  official 
and  from  September  1994  for  the  A  and  B  official. 
The  proposed  operation  is  set  up  for  a period  of  four  years. 

2.  Art  A/260  Studies  : ECU  0.205  million 

Complementary  studies  necessary  for  specific  analysis  of  national  and  Community  data  are 
required. 
These  credits  are  subject  to  the  allocation  of  the  resources  which  are  to  be  decided  by  the 
Commission. 

3.  Art  A/250  Costs  of  meetings  : ECU  0.045  million 

-  Meetings  of  the  national  experts  at  the  initiative  of  the  Commission,  with  two  or  three 

experts,  from  every  Member  State:  three  meetings  per  year. 

Total  of  Part  A: ECU  0.50  million. 

Personnal  and  management  costs 
Studies 
Costs  of  meeting 

Total  of  post  A 

ECU  0.23  million 
ECU  0.205  million 
ECU  0.045  million 

ECU  0.48  million 

19 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(94) 17 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

05 

Catalogue number : CB-CO-94-025-EN-C 

ISBN 92-77-64631-4 

Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

20