WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1724/98 by Brendan DONNELLY to the Commission. Council Directive 85/374/EEC and proposals for amending this Directive in COM(97)48
Date: 1998-06-05
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European standard, application of EU law, directive (EU), drinking water, fluorine, health legislation, interpretation of the law, public health, water treatment

22.2.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 50/79

with regard to communicable diseases, the Commission proposed the setting up of a Community network for the
epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases in the Community. This proposal for a
decision of the Parliament and the Council, creating a network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of
communicable diseases in the European Community (1), which is now in the process of adoption, specifically
refers to hepatitis C due to its importance in respect of public health.

Within the framework of this decision, Member States will report such outbreaks to the Community network (of
which the Commission is part) and will coordinate appropriate measures.

(1) COM(98) 79 final.

(1999/C 50/116)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1724/98

by Brendan Donnelly (PPE) to the Commission

(5 June 1998)

Subject: Council Directive 85/374/EEC and proposals for amending this Directive in COM(97) 478

Will the Commission state whether it accepts that fluoride in water is considered a (cid:145)movable(cid:146) product under the
terms of Directive 85/374/EEC (1) and in the text of the proposed amendments to this directive and is therefore
subject to liability claims in the event of illness caused by fluoride in water?

(1) OJ L 210, 7.8.1985, p. 29.

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 1998)

Under Article 2 of Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products, any (cid:145)movable(cid:146) is
to be considered a product for the purpose of the Directive. The only exceptions are primary agricultural products
and game, unless they have undergone initial processing.

The Commission proposed on 1 October 1997 to amend Directive 85/374/EEC (1), so that primary agricultural
products and game be considered products for the purposes of the Directive. This proposal follows the
Parliament(cid:146)s recommendation to extend the Directive to primary agricultural products, in the context of the
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) case (2).

The Directive does not include a definition of (cid:145)movable(cid:146). The interpretation of the Treaty and acts made under it
are a matter for the Court of justice. Subject to this it is up to national legislation to state whether drinking water
containing fluoride should be considered a product for the purposes of Article 2 of the Directive.

The Honourable Member may care to note the Camelford (United Kingdom) water supply case of 1988 (3).
Following delivery of 20 tonnes of aluminium sulphate to a water treatment plant where it was deposited in the
wrong tank, the public water supply for some 11 500 people became highly acidic (up to 3 000 times the permitted
Community value). In a group action to claim damages for personal injuries it was argued that the water was a
defective product under Part I (cid:145)Product Liability(cid:146) of the Consumer Protection Act of 1987. The water authority
admitted liability and the issues were restricted to quantifying damages (4).

(1) OJ C 337, 7.11.1997.
(2) Resolution on the results of the temporary committee of inquiry into BSE, OJ C 85, 17.3.1997. See, also, the Commission(cid:146)s first bi-annual

BSE follow-up Report, COM(98) 282 final.

(3) Report for the Commission on the application of Directive 85/374/EEC on liability for defective products (Study Contract No ETD/B5-3000/

MI/06).

(4) A.B. and others v. South West Water Services Ltd. [1993] 2 W.L.R. 507, C.A.