WRITTEN QUESTION E-1790/02 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Work-related accident in Greece and disregard of victims.
Date: 2002-06-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, Greece, aid to disaster victims, earthquake, occupational accident, occupational accident insurance, social policy, social security

C 301 E/228

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

In 1997, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ENAC) was instructed to draw up and adopt the specific
regulations. It also prepares all administrative instruments needed to supplement the regulatory framework.

A recent audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)
regarding the degree of
transposition of the Annexes to the ICAO Convention by the contracting parties to it confirmed that
Italian legislation is in conformity as regards Annexes 1, 6, 8 and 18. Conformity was insufficient as
regards Annex 14 (aerodromes).

With regard to airport servitudes, Law 58 of 4 February 1963 lays down standards more restrictive than
those in Annex 14. However, the local authorities do not always follow these standards and their
application is not always subject to the necessary controls. This leads to the situation described by the
Honourable Member. However, these rules are not part of Community law and therefore cannot be the
subject of judicial control at Community level.

The Community started incorporating various international standards in the field of aviation into
Community law in the 1990s in order to make up for the present lack of harmonisation in the field of
civil aviation and thus to respond more fully to the needs of the internal market. This makes these rules
more legally binding and means that Community mechanisms can be used to make sure that they are
applied properly. The subjects covered by Annexes 2, 3, 10, 11 and 15 of the ICAO Convention are
concerned as regards the single sky.

(2002/C 301 E/241)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1790/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Work-related accident in Greece and disregard of victims

In September 1999 a huge earthquake struck Athens, resulting in the destruction of dozens of buildings
and killing hundreds of people. Among the buildings destroyed was one belonging to the firm Ricomex, in
Acharnes, Attica, where 39 people were killed and ten more were injured (cid:1) four of these have permanent
disabilities. The destruction of the Ricomex building was described by the Greek authorities as a ‘work-
related accident’ (cid:1) and in fact was responsible for the highest number of fatalities of any such accident in
modern Greece. Official findings by the competent Greek public authorities reveal who was responsible for
the building’s flimsy construction and the arbitrary decisions and contraventions which occurred, and
demonstrate the building’s overall inadequacy.

It should be pointed out that almost three years after the collapse nobody has been held liable and neither
the victims’ relatives or the injured have received any proper redress. The relatives of the dead receive a
meagre pension from the state; and another typical example is an employee of the firm, now injured and
disabled, who earned a gross salary in 1999 of 262 500 drachmas (i.e. EUR 770,35) but currently receives
It should also be noted that solemn undertakings by Greek
a disability pension of EUR 475,48.
Government ministers made immediately after the accident regarding the employment of relatives of the
victims and the injured by the Greek state have never been fulfilled. The firm itself did not pay damages to
all those affected and claims that if it did so it would have to close down.

Could the Commission say whether in other EU countries victims of work-related accidents and their
relatives receive compensation, and from what source? Could the Commission obtain from the Greek
authorities the full financial details of the company involved (salaries of the members of the governing
board, sales, profits, exports abroad, loan received by the firm and security provided for it, etc.), for the
period from 1999 to now (details which are located in the Athens office of the service which deals with
the taxation of companies)? Is it right that men who were pulled out of the rubble and are now disabled
are not considered to be ‘victims of a work-related accident’ because at the moment of the collapse they
were in the building visiting the company? Is the Commission aware that children of the dead are required
by the Greek authorities to pay exorbitant amounts in tax on real property transferred to them by their
parents before they were killed in the accident? Is there a comparable precedent in any other EU country

5.12.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/229

for a work-related accident where there has been such delay in the dispensation of justice and such
suffering for the victims and their relatives? Can the Commission take steps to find out the reasons for the
delay, the lack of redress and the suffering of the victims and their relatives?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 2002)

The Commission does not have any information concerning work-related accidents resulting from the
earthquake in Athens in 1999, or about the compensation paid in this connection. Compensation for
occupational accidents is a matter for the Member States, and the Commission therefore does not have at
its disposal the information requested by the Honourable Member.

For more details on social protection and occupational accidents occurring in the Member States and the
European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Honourable Member can consult the Mutual Information
System on Social Protection (MISSOC) (1), Table VIII, which sets out the risks covered in the event of
accidents at work or occupational diseases.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/missoc98/english/f_main.htm.

(2002/C 301 E/242)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1791/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Implementation of legislation on equal treatment in employment and occupation

Could the Commission explain to the best of its knowledge the current state of implementation in the
Member States, and in the United Kingdom in particular, of the provisions of the Council directive on
equal treatment in employment and occupation?

How would the current state of implementation of this directive in the UK affect a citizen who had been
the victim of discrimination in access to employment on the basis of their age?

Is there any other existing European legislation which could protect citizens against such cases of
discrimination in the labour market or does the Commission intend to bring forward any such further
measures in this field?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2002)

Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment
in employment and occupation (1) must be transposed into national law by 2 December 2003. Moreover,
in order to take account of particular conditions, Member States may, if necessary, have an additional
period of three years from 2 December 2003, that is to say a total of six years, to implement the
provisions of the Directive on age and disability discrimination. In that event they must inform the
Commission forthwith and must report annually to the Commission on the steps it is taking to tackle age
and disability discrimination and on the progress it is making towards implementation.

No Member State has so far notified its transposition of the Directive to the Commission.