WRITTEN QUESTION P-1649/00 by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Radioactive smoke detectors.
Date: 2000-05-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: health risk, ionising radiation, packaging, public health, radioactive pollution, standard

C 113 E/34

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.4.2001

question and Belgacom. These obligations do in fact differ depending on the value of the contract and the
type of service concerned. When the value of the services listed in Annex IA of Directive 92/50/EEC
exceeds the thresholds laid down therein, a contract can only be awarded subject to compliance with a set
of obligations, which includes the issue of a Europe-wide call for competition prior to the award of the
contract. On the other hand, the only provisions which apply in order to carry out the services listed in
Annex IB are those relating to the rules to be followed in describing the subject of the contract and the
obligation to give notice of the results of the award procedure (2).

Thus, if the subject of the contract concluded with Belgacom were to consist primarily of the provision of
advertising services, as listed in Annex IA of the aforementioned Directive, or if, in any case, the value of
these services were to exceed that of any related services listed in Annex IB, the awarding authority ought
to have issued a prior call for competition in accordance with the rules of the Directive, subject to the
application thresholds laid down in Article 7 having been met.

On the other hand, if the main value of the contract was intended for a service covered by Annex IB of the
Directive, e.g. a category 24 educational service, the only obligations which would need to be checked for
their conformity with applicable Community law would be those concerning compliance with the rules to
be applied in describing the subject of the contract (cid:129) in particular, compliance with a specific hierarchy in
invoking technical specifications, and a notice of the results of the award procedure sent to the Office for
Official Publications of the European Communities. When awarding a contract for services covered by
Annex IB, it is not therefore compulsory to issue a Europe-wide call for competition.

The Commission will contact the Belgian authorities in order to determine the scope of the subject of the
contract in question and check the conformity of the award procedure with the applicable Community
rules.

(1)

and in particular Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of procedures for the
award of public service contracts (OJ L 209, 24.7.1992) as amended by European Parliament and Council Directive
97/52/EC of 13 October 1997 (OJ L 328, 28.11.1997).

(2) See in particular Article 9 of Directive 92/50/EEC, which refers to Articles 14 and 16 only.

(2001/C 113 E/029)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1649/00

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(18 May 2000)

Subject: Radioactive smoke detectors

Radioactive smoke detectors containing americium-241 are banned in Germany and France although they
are permitted in other EU Member States, such as the Netherlands, where they are sold in DIY shops.

There are also optical smoke detectors which operate without radioactivity. In most fires in the home a lot
of smoke is generated (85-90 % of cases) and the optical devices respond after only seven minutes. An
ionisation smoke detector requires 15 to 20 minutes.

A radioactive smoke detector can cause lung cancer. Furthermore, when it is disposed of the radioactivity
enters the environment unchecked.

1.
Does the Commission agree that in the interest of public health and protection of the environment
radioactive smoke detectors should be banned not only in Germany and France but in all EU Member
States?

Is the Commission prepared, pending the introduction of a ban, to make it obligatory to indicate on
in words and in pictures, that they are devices with

2.
the packaging of radioactive smoke detectors,
radioactive radiation?

18.4.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 113 E/35

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(20 June 2000)

The general principles governing protection of workers and the general public against the dangers arising
from ionising radiation are laid down in Council Directive 96/29/Euratom of 13 May 1996 laying down
basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the
dangers arising from ionizing radiation (1). This replaces, inter alia, Council Directive 80/836/Euratom of
15 July 1980 (2), which still forms the legal basis for the national radiation protection legislation currently
in force in most of the Member States. Title IV of the new Directive requires that all practices resulting in
exposure to ionising radiation have to be justified taking into account economic, social and other benefits
in relation to the health detriment they may cause.

including those
According to the information available to the Commission most Member States,
mentioned, have introduced a system of licensing for smoke detectors operating with ionising chambers
because their use is justified due to the special advantageous technical performances.

The basic safety standards directive stipulates that no reporting and authorisation for practices is needed if
the total quantity of radioactivity does not exceed the derived exemption levels. If exemption levels are
exceeded, no reporting is required for apparatus containing radioactive substances provided that they are
type-approved by a Member State(cid:146)s competent authority and are constructed as a sealed source, if given
dose rates are not exceeded and if conditions for disposal have been specified by the competent authority.

In recognition of the particular problems of consumer products containing radioactive substances, the
Commission has regularly reviewed the situation within the Member States. A working group established
under the terms of Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty is currently examining the most recent trends and
developments as to how the Member States have adopted the new basic safety standards directive
requirements in respect of consumer goods containing radioactive substances. As soon as the working
group has completed its work, the Commission will reconsider the situation and may take steps towards
harmonisation of national regulations or administrative acts for the manufacture, placing on the market
and disposal of such devices.

In addition, it should be noted that smoke detectors are construction products falling within the scope of
Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and
administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products (3). In this context, the
Commission has issued a mandate to the European committee for standardisation (CEN) to develop a
harmonised standard for these products. Once the European standard is available, expected to be in 2001,
the Community marking of such products will become possible and this will be accompanied by
information about the performance characteristics of the product.

(1) OJ L 159, 29.6.1996.
(2) OJ L 246, 17.9.1980.
(3) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989.

(2001/C 113 E/030)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1653/00

by Dorette Corbey (PSE) to the Commission

(29 May 2000)

Subject: Seals Directive 83/129/EEC

In reply to my earlier question (P-0395/00) (1) concerning the implementation of the Seals Directive (83/
129/EEC) (2), the Commission gave an assurance that it had no reason to believe that the requirements of
the Directive were not being carried out correctly by the Member States, while also referring to the
miscoding of seal pup products. According to Eurostat figures, imports of whitecoat products in Italy for
1998 totalled ECU 544 000, with Greece, Belgium and Luxembourg, Austria and France also registering a
substantial value of whitecoat imports for 1998. Greece apparently exported whitecoat products in 1998