COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - The Major Accident Hazards Bureau
Date: 1996-02-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU law, Joint Research Centre, environmental risk prevention, industrial hazard, information centre

COMMISSION  OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  09.02.1996 
COM(96)  7  final 

COMMUNICATION  FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

The Major Accident  Hazards Bureau 

The Commission wishes to inform the Council and the European Parliament that it 
has established, at the Joint Research Centre at Ispra, within the Institute for Systems 
Engineering and Informatics, a special Unit called the Major Accident Hazards 
Bureau, dedicated to scientific  and technical support for the actions of the 
Commission in the area of the control of Major Industrial Hazards. 

Since  1982, when the original "Seveso" Directive (Council Directive 82/501/EEC) 
was approved by the Council of Ministers after the famous accident at Seveso, there 
has been Community provision for the control of major industrial hazards.  The 
requirements of this Directive and its subsequent amendments, and of the national 
legislation implementing them, have come to be accepted by European industry as a 
powerful  force in focusing  attention on the control of major industrial hazards and the 
prevention and mitigation of major accidents.  Last year the Commission proposed a 
revised Directive in this area - the "COMAH" Directive (COM(94) 4 final) - which 
has had its first reading in the European Parliament, and on which the Council has 
recently come to a common position. 

EU legislation in this field requires the European Commission to undertake certain 
scientific  and technical tasks, in particular those in connection with communication 
among the Member States.  Thus under the "Seveso" Directive the Member States are 
called upon to inform the Commission about any major accidents which have 
occurred within their territory.  To help prevent similar accidents in the future, the 
Commission evaluates this information,  details lessons learnt from  it, and 
disseminates the results to the Member States and industry.  For this purpose the 
Commission maintains the Major Accident Reporting System database. 

Similarly, on the request of the Committee of Competent Authorities responsible for 
the implementation of the "Seveso" Directive, the Commission has established a 
Community Documentation Centre on Industrial Risk whose principal remit is to 
collect, store and assess guidelines, regulations, codes of good practice, and accident 
case histories related to all aspects of relevant Community legislation and to  facilitate 
the exchange of such information to assist in producing a consistent approach to the 
implementation of this legislation.  In this context, the Centre has promoted a series of 
studies on lessons learnt in various Member States from emergency action  after 
accidents involving chemicals, and the drafting  of guidelines on the information  to be 
communicated to the public concerning major hazards. 

z 

These activities will henceforth  be grouped together in the Major  Accident  Hazards 
Bureau, along with support for other scientific  and technical activities undertaken by 
DG XI in the framework  of EU policy in the control of major  industrial  hazards, such 
as the organisation of technical seminars to facilitate  communication  among National 
Authorities and between them and industry, and support for the Technical  Working 
Groups established by the Commission in the context of current and future  EU 
legislation.  These Technical Working Groups, which involve participants  from 
industry as well as from the National Authorities, are currently involved in drawing 
up guidelines and recommendations covering technical areas such as the content of a 
Safety  Report and the establishment and monitoring of a Safety  Management  System; 
it is envisaged that other technical areas may be covered in the future. 

The establishment and funding  of the Bureau has been achieved within existing 
budgetary provisions, by drawing on resources allocated under the heading of 
Institutional  Support for the services of the Commission.  The Bureau is being 
implemented as a Unit within the Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics, 
which has for many years carried out research in the prevention and mitigation of 
major  accidents.  The scientific  staffing  initially assigned to the Bureau is a total of 
10, in addition to temporary staff working on specific projects funded  from other 
sources. 

The overall mission of the Bureau is to assist the Commission and in particular DG XI 
in the successful  implementation of European Union policy on the control of major 
hazards and the prevention and mitigation of major accidents.  To fulfil  this mission, 
the Major Accident Hazards Bureau will carry out scientific  and technical activities 
related to the day to day implementation of relevant Community  legislation. 

The present remit of the Bureau includes the following tasks (it is possible that other 
tasks in its area of technical competence may be assigned to it over time): 

-  managing the Major  Accident Reporting System database, including 

•  verification  and input of  information; 
•  extracting information  and lessons learnt from the accidents and incidents 
reported; 
•  assisting DG XI in the dissemination of information to National Authorities, 
industry and other interested parties; 

-  managing the Community Documentation Centre on Industrial Risk, including 
•  acquisition of relevant public-domain material, both published and 
unpublished; 
•  preparation of an occasional Bulletin with details and summaries of 
material acquired; 
•  making non-copyright material available to Authorities and other parties 
•  providing continued assistance to DG XI in the preparation of reports on the 
implementation of the Directive; 

2> 

-  assisting DG XI by undertaking 

•  specific tasks of information  dissemination, including organising 
seminars and workshops with the National Authorities (with industrial 
participation where appropriate) on relevant topics in the areas of industrial 
risk, risk management, major hazard regulation and licensing, and emergency 
response to industrial accidents; 

•  technical and scientific  support for Technical Working Groups studying 
various aspects of the control of major hazards. 

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Major Accident Hazards Bureau 

FINANCIAL  STATEMENT 

1. Title of operation: 

Establishment of Major Accident Hazards Bureau 

2. Budget headings involved: 

Article B6 - 111 

Joint Research Centre 
Personnel connected with the Institution 

Article B6 -121 

Means of Implementation 

Article B6 - 2131 

Environment and Climate 

3. Legal basis: 

-  Directive 82/501/EEC on the Major Accident Hazards of Certain Industrial Activities 

and its modifications  (O.J. L230, of 5.8.1982, OJ L85 of 28.3.87 and OJ L336, 
7.12.1988) 

-  Council conclusions of 26 April  1994, on the rôle of the Joint Research Centre (O.J. 

n°C126of7.5.1994) 

-  Council decision adopting JRC  1995-1998 Programme of Research and 

Technological Development (O.J. L361, of 31.12.1994, p. 125: research area 
'industrial reliability', paragraph  1, "support for the implementation of directives ... 
concerning major  hazards") 

4. Description  of operation: 

4.1 General objective: 

Assisting the services of the Commission in the monitoring of EU legislation in 
the field  of Major Accident Hazard Control and its implementation 

By agreement with DG XI, collecting and disseminating information  relevant to 
the control of major hazards 

Managing, and drawing conclusions from, the information  sent to the 
Commission by the Member States under Directive 82/501 /EEC as modified, 
and the COMAH Directive proposed by the Commission (COM(94) 4 final, 

published on the 26th January  1994) 

4.2 Period covered and arrangements for renewal: 

This proposal is intended to apply for the duration of the current Framework 
Programme (1995 - 1998).  Should subsequent Framework Programmes also 
envisage JRC activities in the same technical domain, a proposal could be made 
to continue the activities of the Bureau. 

5. Classification of the expenditure: 

5.1 Non-compulsory  expenditure 
5.2 Differentiated  credits 
5.3 Type of revenue involved: none 

6. Type of expenditure: 

Direct expenditure by the Joint Research Centre under the budget headings named 
above 

7. Financial implications: 

Most of the individual activities concerned are already being carried out by the JRC. 
The creation of the Bureau, and the assigning of the staff concerned to it, is intended to 
improve the visibility of these activities (see point 9.2 below).  However, as the 
activities will continue to be carried out under the same budgetary headings as 
previously, the establishment of the Bureau will not in itself have any impact on 
financial  resources, neither in terms of personnel credits nor in specific credits. 

7.1 Method of calculating total cost: 

The method of calculation is the same as that used for other JRC activities: the 
costs, both in personnel and in specific credits, of infrastructure  and 
administrative and technical support is allocated in proportion to the number of 
members of staff assigned to the activities concerned. 

It should be noted, however, that since it is proposed to inaugurate the Bureau at 
the end of September, the  1995 costs given below only cover 3 months 
(October-December). 

For the future  evolution of personnel costs and overheads, allowance has been 
made for a 3% increase per year, in accordance with the policy of the JRC. 

This operation falls into the category "others" as defined  in note DG XIX 3731 of  18/05/95. 

7.2 Itemised breakdown of cost 

Commitment  appropriations 

ECU million 
(at current prices) 

Breakdown 

1995 

1996 

1997 

1998 

1999 and 
subs, yrs 

Total 

Scientific  Personnel 
Support Personnel 
Credits - direct 
Credits - overheads 
TOTAL 

0,245 
0,109 
0,077 
0,073 
0,504 

1,007 
0,449 
0,309 
0,299 
2,064 

1,037 
0,463 
0,320 
0,308 
2,128 

1,069 
0,476 
0,330 
0,317 
2,192 

p.m. 
p.m. 
p.m. 
p.m. 
p.m. 

3,358 
1,497 
1,036 
0,997 
6,888 

7.3 Schedule of commitment and payment appropriations 

\99S 

1996 

i»7 

\m 

ECU million 
Total 

1999 and 
subs, 
years. 

0.504 

2.064 

2.128 

2.192 

p.m. 

6.888 

Commitment 
appropriation 
Payment 
appropriation 

199S 
1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 and subs, 
years 

0.101 
0.403 

0.722 
1.006 
0.335 

0.745 
1.037 

0.346 
2.128 

0.767 

1.425 
2.192 

p.m. 
p.m. 

0.101 
1.126 
1.751 
2.140 

1.771 
6.888 

Total 

0.504 

2.064 

2  personnel costs of infrastructure,  administrative and technical support 
3  these direct credits are intended to cover, in addition to equipment and operating and maintenance 
costs: software  development, purchase of published works for the CDCIR, workshops and meetings, 
disseminating of information,  and external contract research. 

1 

8. Anti-fraud measures proposed: 

The normal JRC systems of internal control and audit will apply to this activity, as well 
as those of the Commission's Directorate-General  of Financial Control, including prior 
authorisation of any expenditure.  In the case of specific contracts being made with 
outside firms for particular services the usual Commission procedures will be followed, 
including calls for tender, examination and comparison of the proposals received, and 
where appropriate consultation of the CCAM. 

9. Elements of cost-effectiveness analysis: 

9.1 Specific  and quantified  objectives; target population: 

The objective of this activity is to assist directly the services of the Commission 
(primarily DG XI) to ensure the optimum control of major hazards, including the 
gathering and dissemination of information  in all the technical domains 
concerned with major hazard control. 

The target population for the Bureau's activities is therefore  in the first instance 
DG XI of the Commission, and the various national authorities in the Member 
States involved in major hazard control (authorities responsible for licensing of 
hazardous plant, worker protection, environmental protection, civil protection, 
and emergency response); and indirectly the chemical, petrochemical, 
pharmaceutical and hydrocarbon fuel  industries as well as the general public. 

9.2 Grounds for the operation: 

1)  Why a European Centre? 

The operation of gathering and dissemination of information  can be carried out 
far more effectively  at European level than at a national level, especially 
concerning the lessons learnt from major accidents, since - fortunately  - such 
accidents are rare, and no single Member State has had sufficient  accidents to 
provide a useable sample.  As a spin-off from these activities, it is worth noting 
that the requirement to notify  the Commission of major accidents has already led 
to several Member States setting up their own complementary  accident 
databases. 

The duty on the Commission to treat accident information  from the Member 
States under strict confidentiality  means that the collecting and analysis of this 
information  has to be carried out by the Commission, and the staff of the 
Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics  (ISEI) have the technical 
knowledge and experience needed for this analysis.  In this respect the close 
continuing contacts with ISEI staff will be most  useful. 

s 

Many of the activities involved (e.g. the Documentation Centre on Industrial 
Risk) have been undertaken at the specific request of the Member States' 
representatives, while DG XI of the Commission needs to be able to call on 
impartial scientific and technical expertise, both in its own right and on behalf of 
the Technical Working Groups which it has created to study various technical 
questions. 

The activities connected with monitoring the implementation of the "Seveso" 
directive can also benefit  from a comparative approach, while the study and 
communication of best practice in this domain makes a contribution to European 
integration. 

The contribution made by the JRC in this area was noted by the Council  in its 
resolution of 16 October  1989 (O.J. C273/1, of 26.10.89, under point 4). 

2) Why a Bureau? 

The establishment of a Bureau to cover this range of activities is consistent with 
Commission policy, other Bureaus such as ECVAM having already been created 
within the JRC. It will provide much greater visibility for the European Union's 
work in the area of control of major hazards, and will be a point of scientific and 
technical reference  both within and outwith the Union, in particular for countries 
of Central and Eastern Europe. 

9.3 Monitoring and evaluation of the operation: 

The activities of the Bureau will continue to be analysed and evaluated like other 
JRC activities.  They will therefore  be submitted on an annual basis for advance 
approval by the JRC Board of Governors in the form of JRC Work Schedules. 
They are furthermore  subject to a special annual evaluation in their capacity as 
support to the Commission. 

The Bureau will be managed by a Management Committee consisting of 
representatives from  DG XI and the JRC.  It will also work in close 
collaboration with the Committee of "Seveso" Directive Competent Authorities, 
who will receive, normally twice a year, a presentation of the Bureau's activities, 
both past and proposed. 

Detailed performance  monitoring will be carried out for those of the Bureau's 
activities which are susceptible to it, for example the usage of the 
Documentation Centre.  Other activities, such as organising seminars and 
providing scientific  support to Technical Working Groups are subject to a less 
formal but no less challenging evaluation by DG XI and the National 
Authorities. 

10. Administrative expenditure  (Section  III, Part A of the budget): 

Since all the activities here come under section B6 of the budget, there will be no impact 
on administrative expenditure. 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(96) 7  final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

04  14  15 

Catalogue number  : CB-CO-96-011-EN-C 

ISBN 92-77-99547-5 

Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 

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