PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION AMENDING DECISION 94/3092/EC INTRODUCING A COMMUNITY SYSTEM OF INFORMATION ON HOME AND LEISURE ACCIDENTS
Date: 1995-01-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, accident in the home, consumer protection, information system, leisure, product safety

COMVIISSION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

COM(95) 005 final 
Brussels,  13.01.1995 

PROPOSAL  FOR A 
COUNCIL  DFXISION 
AMENDING  DECISION  9 4 / 3 0 9 2 / EC 

INTRODUCING  A  COMMUNITY  SYSTEM  OF  INFORMATION 
ON  HOME  AND LEISURE  ACCIDENTS 

(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

The  aim  of  this  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  amending  Decision  94/3092/EC 
introducing  a  Community  system  of  information  on  home  and  leisure  accidents,  is  to 
make the adjustments  required  by the accession of new Member  States to the  Community. 

These  adjustments  are  designed  to  ensure  that,  from  1995  onwards,  the  new  Member 
States have the appropriate  instruments for conducting  an accident prevention policy.  This 
will  involve  collecting  and  disseminating  information  on  home  and  leisure  accidents  to 
the  relevant  authorities  and  organisations  at  national  and  Community  level. 

The method  of collecting  data from  hospital casualty  departments has been chosen for  the 
new Member  States, since it corresponds to the collection methods currently  used by these 
States. 

The  number  of  hospitals  varies  between  2  and  5  for  existing  Member  States  whose 
population  is  less  than  or  equal  to  10  million.  The  number  of  hospitals  for  each  new 
Member  State  has  been  set  in  accordance  with  the  size  of  its  population  and  the 
distribution  thereof over its territory. Accordingly,  3 hospitals will be selected  for  the new 
Member  States  with  a population  of  approximately  5 million  inhabitants,  and  4  for  those 
with  a  population  of  between  5  and  10 million  inhabitants. 

These  figures  do  not  prejudge  the  content  of  the  report  and  any  amending  proposals, 
which the Commission  will have to submit in  1995, in particular  as regards the  allocation 
to  the  Member  States  of  the  hospitals  which  are  to  participate  in  the  system  from  1996 
onwards,  the  aim  being  to  ensure  a  homogeneous  sample. 

PvorecAL  FOU  A 
COUNCIL DECISION 
AMCNMNC  DlCWON  * 4 £ t * 2 / £C 
INTRODUCING  A COMMUNITY  SYSTEM  OF  INFORMATION 
ON  HOME  AND  LEISURE  ACCIDENTS 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Norway, Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in 
particular Article  169 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal  from the Commission1, 

Whereas  European  Parliament  and  Council  Decision  94/3092/EC2  introduced  a 
Community  system  of  information  on home and  leisure  accidents  for  a period of  four 
years; 

Whereas the above-mentioned Decision has to be adapted to take account of the accession 
of three new Member States to the Community, 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

OJN°  L 331, 21.12.1994,  p. 1 

1 

Article  1 

Decision  94/3092/EC  is  amended  as  follows: 

1 

Article  5  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following  text: 

"The  budget  authority  shall  determine  the  appropriations  available  for  each 
financial  year". 

2 

In  point  5  of  Annex  I,  the  following  shall  be  added  to  the  table: 

Member  State 

Number  of  hospitals 

Austria 
Finland 
Sweden 

The  total  number  "54"  shall  be  replaced  by  the  number  "65". 

Article  2 

This  Decision  shall  apply  from  the  date  of  entry  into force  of  the  Treaty  of  Accession  of 
Norway,  Austria,  Finland  and  Sweden. 

This  Decision  is  addressed  to  the  Member  States. 

Article  3 

Done  at 

For  the  Council 

lie  President 

FÏNAM:iAL STATEMENT 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Title of  operation 
Introduction of a Community information system on home and leisure accidents 

Bvdget  heading  involved 
B5-105 

Legal  basis 
Article  129 A (2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community 

4. 

Description  of opera tien 

4.1  General objective 

In developing Community consumer protection polky, 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 ©f expenditure ©r revenue 

5.1  DO/DNO 
mo 
5.2  CDiCND 
CD 

$.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% 

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 

7. 

Financial  Impact 

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

Part  B o(  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  2.608  million  (ECU  2.3  million,  in  1994) 

support  for  the  hospitals participating  in data  collection  on  the basis  of  65 
hospitals (54  hospitals  in  1994), with the breakdown  shown  in Annex  1 of 
the  proposal  for  a  decision  (80%  of  costs,  with  a  maximum  of  ECU  28 
000  per  hospital  for  each  year),  as  well  as  a  contribution  to  Germany, 
Spain  and  Luxembourg  using  household  surveys  (80  %  of  the  expenses  as 
mentioned  above  with  a  ceiling  as  described  in  Annex  II,  point  2). 

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 2.808  million ( ECU 2,5 million in 1994). 

7.2. 

Itemized breakdown of cost 

Breakdown 

1. Work done by the Commission 

ECU 

200 000 

2.  65 hospitals x ECU 2$ 000 

ECU 

1 820 000 

(54 hospitals = ECU  1 5t2 000, in  1994) 

household surveys 

Germany : 
Spain: 
Lux: 

+ support for the least developped countries 
+ support for bilateral technical assistance 

ECU 
ECU 
ECU 

ECU 

ECU 

380 000 
225  000 
95 000 

88 000 

2  808 000 

(ECU 2 500000 in 1994) 

7.3.2 

Indicative Schedule 

period:  1994-1997 

Budget  1994 

n+  1 

n-f  2 

n + 3 

TOTAL 

2,5  Mill Ecu 

2,808  Mill Ecu  2,S08 Mill Ecu 

2,808 Mill Ecu 

The appropriations availible will be decided in the context of the annual budgetary procedure 
and  in  accordance  with  prospective  financial  strcngh,  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. 

9.2  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  eollected  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  decision  will  be  significantly 
enhanced. 

The  safety  of  consumers  in  the  Community  must  be  ensured  in  the  framework  of  the 
functioning  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. 

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. 

from  an  external  organisation 

Assistance 
determination  of  product  codes,  presentation  and  methods  of  analysis. 
Estimated  costs:  ECU  30  000 

in  defining  methodology  concerning 

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  A8/A4 
1  B  official  (100%)  titre  B4/B1 
Al 110  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 

F'CU  0.23  million 
ECU  0.205  million 
ECU  0.045  million 

ECU  0.48  million 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(95) 005 final 

DOCUMENTS 

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16 05 

Catalogue number : CB-CO-95-008-EN-C 

ISBN 92-77-84828-6 

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