COMMON POSITION (EC) No 70/98 adopted by the Council on 23 November 1998 with a view to the adoption of Decision No .../98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council adopting a programme of Community action on injury prevention in the framework for action in the field of public health (1999 to 2003)
Date: 1998-11-23
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, accident prevention, action programme, public health

23.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 404/21

COMMON  POSITION  (EC)  No  70/98

adopted  by  the  Council  on  23  November  1998

with  a  view  to  the  adoption  of  Decision  No  . . ./98/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the
Council adopting a programme of Community action on injury prevention in the framework for
action  in  the  field  of  public  health  (1999  to  2003)

(98/C 404/05)

THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  THE  COUNCIL
OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and 
indent  of
Article  129(4)  thereof,

in  particular  the  first 

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Having  regard  to  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  of  the
Regions (3),

Acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in
Article  189b  of  the  Treaty (4),

(1) Whereas, throughout the Community, injuries must
be  considered  as  one  of  the  major  health  scourges
referred  to  in  Article  129  of  the  Treaty;  whereas
they  are  a  cause  of  substantial  public  concern;

(2) Whereas  Article  129  of  the  Treaty  expressly
provides for Community competence in this field in
so  far  as  the  Community  contributes  towards
ensuring a high level of human health protection by
encouraging  cooperation  between  the  Member
States and, if necessary, by lending support to their
action  by  promoting  coordination  of  their  policies
and  programmes,  and  by  fostering  cooperation
with third countries and international organisations
competent  in  the  field  of  public  health;  whereas
Community  action  should  be  directed  towards  the
prevention  of  diseases  and  the  promotion  of  health
education  and  information;

(1) OJ  C  202,  2.7.1997,  p.  20,  and
OJ  C  154,  19.5.1998,  p.  14.

(2) OJ  C  19,  21.1.1998,  p.  1.
(3) OJ  C  379,  15.12.1997,  p.  44.
(4) Opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  of  11  March  1998  (OJ
C  104,  6.4.1998,  p.  119),  Council  common  position  of
23 November 1998 and Decision of the European Parliament
of  . . .  (not  yet  published  in  the  Official  Journal).

(3) Whereas,  in  accordance  with  Article  3(o)  of  the
Treaty,  Community  action  includes  a  contribution
to  the  attainment  of  a  high 
level  of  health
protection;

(4) Whereas,  in  its  communication  of  24  November
1993  on  the  framework  for  action  in  the  field  of
public health, the Commission identified intentional
and  unintentional 
injuries  and  accidents  as  a
priority  area  for  action  in  the  public  health  field;

(5) Whereas  the  large  number  of  injuries  caused  each
year  in  Europe  has  incalculable  repercussions  not
only for the individuals concerned but also in social
and  economic  terms;

(6) Whereas  prevention,  and  the  consequent  reduction,
of  injuries  should  be  a  priority  in  the  context  of
Community  action  in  the  field  of  public  health,
particularly 
in  view  of  the  great  social  and
economic  benefit  to  be  derived  from  a  Community
measure,  the  cost-benefit  ratio  of  which  is  also
exceptionally favourable;

(7) Whereas  in  areas  which  do  not  fall  within  its
exclusive  competence,  such  as  action  on  injury
in
prevention, 
accordance  with  the  principle  of  subsidiarity,  only
if  and  in  so  far  as  the  objective  of  the  proposed
action  can,  by  reason  of  its  scale  or  effects,  be
better  archieved  by  the  Community;

the  Community 

takes  action, 

(8) Whereas  Community  action  on  injury  prevention
will  yield  added  value  by  bringing 
together
activities  already  undertaken  in  relative  isolation  at
national level and by enabling them to complement
one  another,  with  significant  results 
the
Community  as  a  whole;

for 

(9) Whereas  an  action  programme 
the 

to  help  reduce 

undertaken 
injuries;

should  be
incidence  of

(10) Whereas the activities carried out in the framework
of  the  Community  system  of  information  on  home

C 404/22

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

23.12.98

leisure  accidents 

(EHLASS),  which  was
and 
introduced  by  Decision  No  3092/94/EC  of  the
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council (1)  and
expired  at  the  end  of  1997,  produced  positive
results;  whereas 
therefore  be
continued;

should 

they 

for  the  telematic  interchange  of  data  between
administrations  (IDA);

(16) Whereas 

cooperation 

international
organisations  competent  in  the  field  of  public
should  be
health  and  with 
fostered;

third  countries 

with 

implementation  of  this  programme 

(11) Whereas  one  of  the  essential  preconditions  for
is  the
the 
injury  data-
establishment  of  a  Community 
collection  and  information  system;  whereas  this
system  should  be  based  on  strengthening  and
improving  on  the  achievements  of  the  former
EHLASS system;

(12) Whereas  the  implementation  of  the  Community
data  collection  and  information  exchange  system
necessarily  presupposes  compliance  with 
legal
provisions  concerning  the  protection  of  individuals
with  regard  to  the  processing  of  personal  data  and
the  introduction  of  arrangements  to  guarantee  the
confidentiality and security of such data; whereas in
this  connection  the  European  Parliament  and  the
Council adopted Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October
1995  on  the  protection  of  individuals  with  regard
to  the  processing  of  personal  data  and  on  the  free
movement  of  such  data (2);

(13) Whereas  it  is  of  paramount  importance  for  the
epidemiology  of 
for  determining
injuries  and 
Community  health  indicators  as  referred  to  in
the  European
Decision  No  1400/97/EC  of 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  30  June  1997
adopting  a  programme  of  Community  action  on
health  monitoring  within  the  framework  for  action
in  the  field  of  public  health  (1997—2001) (3);
information
is 
whereas  data 
exchanged  on 
the  basis  of  comparable  and
consistent  data  on  injuries;

collected  and 

information 

(14) Whereas,  by  providing  support  for  acquiring  better
knowledge  and  understanding  of,  and  wider
dissemination  of 
injury
prevention,  ensuring  improved  comparability  of
information  in  this  field  and  developing  actions
complementary to existing Community programmes
and 
unnecessary
duplication,  this  programme  will  contribute  to  the
achievement of the Community objectives set out in
Article  129  of  the  Treaty;

actions,  while 

avoiding 

about, 

should 

(15) Whereas,  in  general,  Community  action  on  injury
prevention 
the
take 
applications  of  telematics  in  the  health  sector;
whereas, 
implementation  of  this
programme  should  be  closely  coordinated  with
projects  of  common  interest  under  the  programme

in  particular, 

account 

into 

(17) Whereas  this  programme  should  be  of  a  five-year
duration in order to allow sufficient time to achieve
the  objectives  set;

(18) Whereas, in order to increase the value and impact
of  this  programme,  a  continuous  evaluation  of  the
actions  undertaken  should  be  carried  out,  with
particular  regard  to  their  effectiveness  and  the
achievement  of  the  objectives  set;

(19) Whereas  it  should  be  possible  to  adjust  or  modify
this programme in the light of its evaluation and of
any  developments  that  may  take  place  in  the
general context of Community action in the field of
public  health;

(20) Whereas  it  is  important  that  the  Commission
should ensure implementation of this programme in
close  cooperation  with  the  Member  States;

(21) Whereas a modus vivendi (4)  between  the  European
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission
concerning  the  implementing  measures  for  acts
adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid
down in Article 189b of the Tretay was reached on
20  December  1994;

(22) Whereas  this  Decision  lays  down,  for  the  entire
duration of this programme, a financial framework
constituting  the  principal  point  of  reference,  within
the  meaning  of  point  1  of  the  declaration  of  the
the
European  Parliament, 
Commission of 6 March 1995 (5), for the budgetary
authority  during  the  annual  budgetary  procedure,

the  Council  and 

HAVE  DECIDED  AS  FOLLOWS:

Article  1

Objective  of  the  programme

1.
A  programme  of  Community  action  on  injury
prevention, hereinafter referred to as ‘this programme’, is
hereby  adopted  for  the  period  from  1  January  1999  to

(1) OJ  L  331,  21.12.1994,  p.  1.
(2) OJ  L  281,  23.11.1995,  p.  31.
(3) OJ  L  193,  22.7.1997,  p.  1.

(4) OJ  C  102,  4.4.1996,  p.  1.
(5) OJ  C  102,  4.4.1996,  p.  4.

23.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 404/23

31  December  2003  in  the  framework  for  action  in  the
field  of  public  health.

The  annual  appropriations  shall  be  authorised  by
2.
the  budgetary  authority  within  the  limits  of  the  financial
perspective.

2.
The aim of this programme shall be to contribute to
public health activities which seek to reduce the incidence
of  injuries,  particularly  injuries  caused  by  home  and
leisure  accidents,  by  promoting:

(a)

the  epidemiological  monitoring  of  injuries  by  means
of  a  Community  system  for  the  collection  of  data
and  the  exchange  of  information  on  injuries  based
on strengthening and improving on the achievements
of  the  former  EHLASS  system;

(b)

information  exchanges  on  the  use  of  those  data  to
contribute  to  the  definition  of  priorities  and  better
prevention strategies.

The  Community 

in
3.
paragraph  2(a)  and  the  specific  action  referred  to  in
paragraph 2(b) to be implemented under this programme
are  set  out  in  the  Annex.

referred 

system 

to 

Article  5

Committee

1.
The  Commission  shall  be  assisted  by  a  committee
composed  of  the  representatives  of  the  Member  States
and  chaired  by  the  representative  of  the  Commission.

2.
The  representative  of  the  Commission  shall  submit
to  the  committee  a  draft  of  the  measures  to  be  taken
concerning:

(a)

the  committee’s  rules  of  procedure;

(b) an  annual  work  programme  indicating  the  priorities

for  action;

Article  2

Implementation

The  Commission  shall  ensure,  in  close  cooperation
1.
with  Member  States, 
the
the 
Community  system  and  the  specific  action  set  out  in  the
Annex,  in  accordance  with  Article  5.

implementation  of 

(c)

(d)

The  Commission  shall  cooperate  with  institutions
injury
in 

2.
and  organisations  active 
prevention.

field  of 

the 

the  arrangements,  procedures  and  specifications
regarding content and finance necessary to ensure the
implementation  of  the  Community  system  set  out  in
Part  A  of  the  Annex,  including  those  relating  to
the  participation  of  the  countries  referred  to  in
Article  6(2);

and 

projects 

for
the  arrangements,  criteria  and  procedures 
selecting 
the
financing 
implementation  of  the  specific  action  set  out  in
Part  B  of  the  Annex,  including  those  involving
cooperation  with 
organisations
in  the  sphere  of  public  health  and
competent 
in
participation  of 
Article  6(2);

the  countries 

international 

referred 

for 

to 

(e)

follow-up  and  evaluation  procedure;

Article  3

Consistency  and  complementarity

The  Commission  shall  ensure  that  there  is  consistency
and  complementarity  between  the  Community  system
and  the  specific  action  to  be  implemented  under  this
programme  and  the  actions  implemented  under  other
Community  programmes, 
initiatives,
particularly in the field of accidents, road safety, product
safety  and  civil  protection.

actions 

and 

Article  4

Financing

(f)

(g)

the  procedures  for  coordination  with  programmes
and  initiatives  which  are  of  direct  relevance  to
achievement  of  the  aim  of  this  programme;

arrangements 

the 
institutions  and  organisations 
Article  2(2).

for 

cooperating  with 

referred 

to 

the
in

The  committee  shall  deliver  its  opinion  on  the  draft
measures referred to above within a time limit which the
chairman  may  lay  down  according  to  the  urgency  of  the
matter.  The  opinion  shall  be  delivered  by  the  majority
laid  down  in  Article  148(2)  of  the  Treaty  in  the  case  of
decisions  which  the  Council  is  required  to  adopt  on  a
proposal  from  the  Commission.  The  votes  of  the
representatives  of 
the
committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that
Article.  The  Chairman  shall  not  vote.

the  Member  States  within 

1.
The  financial  framework  for  the  implementation  of
this  programme  for  the  period  referred  to  in  Article  1  is
hereby  set  at  ECU  14  million.

The  Commission  shall  adopt  measures  which  shall  apply
immediately.  However,  if  these  measures  are  not  in

C 404/24

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

23.12.98

accordance with the opinion of the committee, they shall
be  communicated  by  the  Commission  to  the  Council
forthwith.  In  that  event:

implemented  as  regards  the  specific  action  covered  by
Part  B  of  the  Annex  in  accordance  with  the  procedure
laid  down  in  Article  5.

— the  Commission  shall  defer  application  of 

the
measures  which  it  has  decided  for  a  period  of  two
months  from  the  date  of  such  communication,

— the  Council,  acting  by  a  qualified  majority,  may  take
a different decision within the time limit referred to in
the  first  indent.

In  addition,  the  Commission  may  consult  the
the

3.
committee  on  any  other  matter  concerning 
implementation  of  this  programme.

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.

The representative of the Commission shall keep the

4.
committee  regularly  informed  of:

— financial  assistance  granted  under  this  programme
(amount,  duration,  breakdown  and  beneficiaries),

— Commission  proposals  or  Community  initiatives  and
the  implementation  of  programmes  in  other  fields
which  are  of  direct  relevance  to  achievement  of  the
to  ensure
objective  of 
consistency  and  complementarity  as  referred  to  in
Article  3.

this  programme,  so  as 

Article  6

International  cooperation

2.
This  programme  shall  be  open  to  participation  by
the  associated  countries  of  central  and  eastern  Europe,
in  accordance  with 
in
the  Association  Agreements  or  Additional  Protocols
relating  thereto  concerning  participation  in  Community
programmes.

the  conditions 

laid  down 

This programme shall be open to participation by Cyprus
and  Malta  on  the  basis  of  additional  appropriations  in
accordance  with  the  same  rules  as  those  applied  to  the
countries  of  the  European  Free  Trade  Association
(EFTA),  under  procedures  to  be  agreed  with  those  two
countries.

Article  7

Monitoring  and  evaluation

In 

the 

implementation  of 

1.
the
Commission  shall  take  the  measures  necessary  to  ensure
the  monitoring  and  continuous  evaluation  of 
this
programme,  taking  account  of  the  aim  set  out  in
Article  1.

this  Decision, 

into  these  two  reports 

The  Commission  shall  submit  an  interim  report  to
2.
the  European  Parliament  and  to  the  Council  during  the
third  year  of  operation  of  this  programme  and  a  final
report  upon  completion  of  this  programme.  It  shall
incorporate 
information  on
Community  financing  within  the  framework  of  this
programme  and  on  consistency  and  complementarity
with  the  programmes,  actions  and  initiatives  referred  to
in  Article  3,  as  well  as  the  results  of  the  evaluation
referred  to  in  paragraph  1  of  this  Article.  Those  reports
shall  also  be  submitted  to  the  Economic  and  Social
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions.  The
interim  report  should  also  take  account  in  developments
occurring within the framework for Community action in
the  field  of  public  health.

3. On  the  basis  of  the  interim  report  referred  to  in
paragraph  2,  the  Commission  may,  if  necessary,  make
appropriate  proposals  for  modifications  or  adjustments
to  this  programme.

Subject  to  Article  228  of  the  Treaty,  in  the  course
1.
of  implementing  this  programme,  cooperation  with  third
countries  and  with  international  organisations  competent
in  the  sphere  of  public  health  shall  be  encouraged  and

For  the  European  Parliament

For  the  Council

The  President

The  President

Done  at  . . .

23.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 404/25

ANNEX

THE  COMMUNITY  SYSTEM  AND  THE  SPECIFIC  ACTION  TO  BE  IMPLEMENTED  TO  ACHIEVE
THE  OBJECTIVE  REFERRED  TO  IN  ARTICLE  1(2)

A. COMMUNITY  INJURY  DATA-COLLECTION  AND  INFORMATION-EXCHANGE  SYSTEM

1. The  objective  of  the  Community  data  collection  and  information  exchange  system  on  injuries,
hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘the  system’,  will  be  to  collect  information  on  injuries,  particularly  those
resulting  from  home  and  leisure  accidents.

2. The system will be implemented by recourse principally to telematic means and in particular to the
telematic  network  Euphin  (European  Union  public  health  information  network),  developed  under
the projects of common interest within the programme for the telematic interchange of data between
administrations  (IDA).

3. The system will be developed on the basis of the experience acquired with, and the assessment made

of,  the  earlier  EHLASS  system.

4. The data will be collected, in accordance with the collection systems submitted for that purpose by
the  Member  States,  from  hospitals  and/or  other  appropriate  establishments  and  services,  and  by
means of surveys. The collection and transmission of data to the information system will be carried
out  under  the  responsibility  of  the  Member  States,  which  shall  seek  to  ensure  the  reliability  of
sources.

5. Special  attention  must  be  given  to:

— the  methodology  of  the  collection  of  data  for  the  purposes  of  comparability  and  compatibility,

— the  criteria  for  the  representativity  of  data,

— guaranteeing  the  quality  of  data.

6. The  data  must  be  codified,  using  an  approach  based  on  the  common  criteria  of  the  coding  manual

of  the  earlier  EHLASS  system.

7. The  arrangements  for  access  to  the  system  by  the  various  organisations  and  associations  will  be

established  within  the  framework  of  the  implementation  of  this  programme.

B. SPECIFIC  ACTION  ON  EPIDEMIOLOGICAL  MONITORING  OF  INJURIES  AND  EXCHANGES

OF  INFORMATION

The objective of this specific action is to encourage, strengthen and support the creation of Community
networks concerning the epidemiology of injuries and exchanges of information devoted in particular to
the  following  functions:

— promoting concerted approaches to all technical and methodological aspects, in particular codes and

definitions  and  the  collection  of  data,

— making  comparable  and  compatible  data  available  to  the  system  and  communicating  them  to  it,

— examining  the  coverage  provided  by  existing  data-collection  systems  and,  if  necessary,  studying
identification  of  survey
improve  that  coverage;  contributing  to  the 

intended  to 

measures 
requirements,

— promoting  the  creation  of  a  database  that  includes  the  results  of  the  surveys,

— carrying  out  the  collection,  processing  and  dissemination  of  information,

— facilitating  the  identification  of  dangerous  products,

— developing  new  approaches  to  and  innovative  methods  of  dealing  with  problems,

— analysing  risk  factors  and  preventation  strategies.

C 404/26

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

23.12.98

STATEMENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL’S  REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

1. On 15 May 1997 the Commission submitted a proposal for a Decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council adopting a programme of Community action from 1999
to 2003 on injury prevention in the context of the framework for action in the field of
public  health,  based  on  the  first  indent  of  Article  129(4)  of  the  EC  Treaty (1).

2. The  European  Parliament  delivered  its  opinion  on  11  March  1998 (2).

The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions delivered their
opinions  on  29  October (3)  and  18  September  1997 (4)  respectively.

3.

In  the  light  of  the  European  Parliament’s  opinion,  the  Commission  forwarded  an
amended  proposal  to  the  Council  on  16  April  1998.

4. On  23  November  1998  the  Council  adopted  its  common  position  in  accordance  with

Article  189b  of  the  Treaty.

II. OBJECTIVE

This  proposal  covers  a  programme  on  injury  prevention;  its  purpose  is  to  contribute  to
public  health  activities  that  seek  to  reduce  the  incidence  of  injuries,  particularly  injuries
caused  by  home  and  leisure  accidents,  by  promoting:

(a)

the  epidemiological  monitoring  of  injuries  by  means  of  a  Community  system  for  the
collection  of  data  and  the  exchange  of  information  on  injuries  based  on  strengthening
and  improving  on  the  achievements  of  the  former  EHLASS  system;

(b)

information  exchanges  on  the  use  of  those  data  to  contribute  to  the  definition  of
priorities  and  better  prevention  strategies.

III. ANALYSIS  OF  THE  COMMON  POSITION

1. AMENDMENTS  TO  THE  COMMISSION  PROPOSAL

General  remark

The  Council’s  main  changes  to  the  Commission’s  amended  proposal,  which  was
submitted  further  to  the  European  Parliament  opinion  and  largely  incorporates  the
latter’s  proposed  amendments,  were  dictated  by  the  need  both  to  build  a  flexible  and
functional  framework  for  continuing  the  EHLASS  activities  and  for  strengthening  and
improving on the achievements of the EHLASS programme, which expired at the end of
1997,  and  to  coordinate  the  data-collection  system  with  the  injury  prevention
activities.

The  programme’s  objectives  (Article  1)

The Council has deleted the references to specific groups of people and causes of injury
and opted for a broad approach thus allowing a degree of flexibility in the programme’s
implementation.  It  has,  however,  added  a  reference,  which  is  not  restrictive,  to  injuries
caused  by  home  and  leisure  accidents,  which  serves  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  account

(1) OJ  C  202,  2.7.1997,  p.  20.
(2) OJ  C  104,  6.4.1998,  p.  119.
(3) OJ  C  19,  21.1.1998,  p.  1.
(4) OJ  C  379,  15.12.1997,  p.  44.

23.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 404/27

has been taken of the experience acquired under the earlier EHLASS programme. When
opting for this more general approach, the Council also considered that the definition of
injury  should  be  deleted.

Implementation  (Article  2)

As  there  is  only  one  network  for  data  collection  and  the  exchange  of  information  on
epidemiological  monitoring,  which  is  described  in  Part  A  of  the  Annex  to  the  common
position,  the  Council  saw  no  reason  to  go  further  than  the  wording  used  for  other
action  programmes.

Consistency  and  complementarity  (Article  3)

In  view  of  the  broad  approach  chosen  with  regard  to  data  collection  and  information
exchange on injuries, the Council felt the need to be more specific so as to circumscribe
the  programme’s  scope.

Committee  (Article  5)

The  Council  decided  against  the  procedure  proposed  and  chose  (as  for  existing
programmes),  a  mixed-type  procedure,  which  reconciles  the  need  for  flexibility  in
managing  certain  aspects  of  the  programme  with  the  need  to  involve  Member  States
more  actively  in  taking  certain  important  decisions,  in  particular  in  deciding  on  the
arrangements,  procedures  and  specifications  for  the  content  and  finance  necessary
to  ensure 
injury  data-collection  and
the 
information-exchange  system.

implementation  of 

the  Community 

Monitoring  and  evaluation  (Article  7)

The  Council  has  aligned  the  wording  of  this  Article  with  that  used  in  other  action
programmes  so  as  to  reflect  the  changes  made  in  the  structure  of  this  programme,  to
strengthen the monitoring process and to take account of potential developments in the
Community’s  public  health  activities.

Programme  content  (Annex)

The  Council  has  reorganised  and  condensed  the  content  of  the  Annexes,  given  the
funding available, and shifted the focus of prevention activities to transnational schemes
and  those  offering  the  greatest  Community  added  value.  More  specifically  this  involved
providing  for  a  single  network  combining  data-collection  and  information-exchange
activities  regarding  prevention,  in  order  to  make  for  more  efficient  management  of  the
various  activities  and  smoother  coordination  between  them.

On  the  data-collection  side,  the  Council  has  introduced  a  broad  and  flexible  approach,
which  takes  into  account  both  the  differing  practices  and  realities  of  data  collection  in
the  Member  States  and  the  data-collection  being  carried  out  under  other  Community
programmes and schemes. It has accordingly deleted the explicit references to intentional
injuries,  suicide  and  self-inflicted  injuries.

Moreover,  the  Council  took  the  view  that  targeting  specific  groups  of  people  would
narrow  this  programme’s  scope,  while  certain  groups  were  also  covered  by  other
Community  schemes.

Regarding  the  implementation  of  the  Community  system  and  in  particular  the
representativeness of activities and the financial support given to them, the Council, for
technical reasons, considered that the task of specifying the arrangements should be left
to  the  Commission  under  the  committee  procedure.

C 404/28

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

23.12.98

On  the  prevention  side,  the  Council  considered  that  prevention  should  be  focused  on
transnational  networks.

Consequently  some  of  the  proposed  prevention  activities,  which  are  more  the
responsibility of the Member States, have not been incorporated, in particular campaigns
and  consultation  exercises.

2. EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AMENDMENTS

(a) Amendments  incorporated  by  the  Commission  into  its  amended  proposal

The  Commission  accepted  23  of  the  28  amendments  adopted  by  the  Parliament  at
first  reading,  as  follows:

— 12  amendments  accepted  in  full  (2,  3,  4,  6,  7,  8,  9,  11,  16,  19,  22,  24),

— 11  amendments  accepted  in  part  (1,  5,  12,  13,  15,  17,  18,  23,  25,  26,  28).

(i) Amendments  accepted  by  the  Council

The  Council  has  incorporated  13  of  those  amendments  into  its  common
position,  whether  with  drafting  amendments,  in  substance  or  in  part.

— amendment 1 (recital 7): incorporated in another form into recital 11 and

Article  1(2)(a),

— amendment 2 (recital 7a — new): content incorporated into recital 5 with

drafting  amendments,

— amendment  3 (recital  7b  —  new):  incorporated  in  full  into  recital  6  with

drafting  amendments,

— amendment  5 (recital  8b  —  new):  first  part  incorporated  in  slightly

modified  form  into  recital  11,

— amendment 6 (recital 8c — new): incorporated in full into recital 12 with
wording  aligned  on  that  used  for  other  public  health  action  programmes;

— amendment  7 (recital  8d  —  new):  incorporated  into  recital  13  with

amendments  reflecting  the  Council’s  choices  as  to  scope,

— amendment  11 (recital  10b  —  new):  incorporated  in  part  into  recital  15

(reference  to  the  telematics  programme),

— amendment  12 (recital  10c  —  new):  partially  incorporated  in  amended

form  into  recital  15  (first  sentence),

— amendment  13 (recital  10d  —  new):  partially  incorporated  in  amended

form  into  recital  15  (second  sentence),

— amendment  15 (recital  11a  —  new):  incorporated  in  full  into  recital  21
with  wording  aligned  on  that  used  for  other  public  health  programmes,

— amendment  16 (Article  1(2)):  incorporated  in  part,

— amendment  19 (Article  3(1)):  aligned  on  the  standard  form  of  words  and

incorporated  into  Article  4,

— amendment  25 (Annex,  section  1):  incorporated  in  part  into  section  A  of
the  Annex  (reference  to  the  earlier  EHLASS  system)  and  into  section  B  of
the  Annex  (networks).

(ii) Amendments  rejected  by  the  Council

The  Council  was  unable  to  follow  the  Commission’s  proposal  to  incorporate
the  following  amendments  proposed  by  the  Parliament:

— amendment  4 (recital  8a  —  new):  there  is  no  provision  corresponding  to

this  recital  in  the  enacting  terms  of  the  common  position,

23.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 404/29

— amendment  8 (recital  8e  —  new):  the  Council  did  not  accept  this
amendment,  since  acts  of  violence,  which  are  covered  by  another
Community  scheme,  are  not  included  in  the  common  position,

— amendment  9 (recital  8f  —  new):  the  Council  saw  no  direct  link  between

this  text  and  the  enacting  terms,

— amendment  17 (Article  1a  —  new):  in  line  with  the  broad  and  open
approach  taken  by  the  Council,  the  latter  decided  against  adopting
definitions  of  ‘injury’  and  ‘epidemiological  monitoring’,

— amendment  18 (Article  2(1a)  —  new):  the  Council  considered  that  the
organisation  of  the  text  of  the  common  position  made  this  amendment
redundant,

— amendment  22 (Annex,  section  I,  Title)  in  liaison  with  amendment  16
(first  part  of  Article  1(2)):  the  Council  took  the  view  that  intentional
injuries  (acts  of  violence)  were  covered  by  a  Community  scheme  and  the
targeting  of  specific  groups  of  people  would  be  too  restrictive,

— amendment  23 (Annex,  section  II,  Title):  given  the  broad  and  flexible
this  amendment  could  not  be

the  Council, 

taken  by 

approach 
incorporated,

— amendment  24 (Annex,  Actions),  amendment  26  (Annex,  section  3)  and

— amendment  28 (Annex,  after  point  5):  With  the  restructuring  of  the

Annex,  these  amendments  have  become  redundant.

(b) Amendments  not  incorporated  by  the  Commission  into  its  amended  proposal

(i) The  Council  rejected  the  following  amendments:

— amendment 14 (recital 10e — new): the Council did not consider that this

amendment  fell  within  the  scope  of  this  programme,

— amendment  20 (Article  4):  the  Council  rejected  this  amendment  in  the
interests  of  consistency  with  similar  provisions  in  other  public  health
programmes,

— amendment  21 (Article  5(1),  first  subparagraph),  which  is  at  odds  with

the  committee  procedure  Decision,

— amendment  27 (Annex,  section  4),  which  no  longer  has  a  counterpart  in

the  common  position.

(ii) However,  the  Council  did  incorporate  the  content  of  amendment  10  into
Article  3  (consistency  and  complementarity)  in  a  more  precisely  worded  form.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

The  Council  has  reorganised  and  condensed  the  content  of  the  programme,  opting  for  a
broad  and  flexible  approach  which  covers  in  substance  the  proposed  objectives  of  the
programme  and  aims  to  ensure  the  best  results  in  terms  of  Community  added  value  and
cost-benefit  ratio.