Proposal for a Council Recommendation on the prevention of injury and the promotion of safety
Date: 2006-06-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, accident prevention, action programme, information, public health, trauma

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.06.2006 
COM(2006) 329 final 

2006/0106 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 

on the prevention of injury and the promotion of safety 

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The European Commission has adopted a Communication to the European Parliament and the 
Council on Actions for a Safer Europe on 23.06.20061. 

This Communication focuses on the prevention of accidents and injuries in the Member States 
by  public  health  actions.  It  provides  a  strategic  framework  in  form  of  a  Community  action 
plan  which  will  help  the  Member  States  prioritise  their  actions  in  reducing  accidents  and 
injuries.  These  actions  shall  be  primarily  undertaken  in  the  framework  of  the  Community 
Public Health Programme (2003-2008)2 and successor programmes. 

In  the  Communication,  the  Commission  highlights  the  role  of  the  health  sector  in  injury 
prevention by quantifying the problems, reporting risk factors, advocating primary prevention, 
disseminating  evidence-based  strategies,  increasing  the  professional  capacities  for  advising 
people  at  risk,  leading  national  action  plans,  and  informing  the  public  about  hazards  and 
safety precautions. 

As  one  essential  part  of  the  Community  action  plan,  the  Commission  will  develop  a 
Community information system on accidents and injuries which will provide all stakeholders 
with  the  best  available  information  about  the  magnitude  of  the  problem  including  high-risk 
population groups, major risk determinants and risks linked to certain consumer products and 
services.  This  information  is  a  prerequisite  for  policy  making,  design  of  actions,  and 
evaluation of outcomes. 

Another  part  of  the  Community  action  plan  foresees  that  the  Commission  will  establish 
arrangements for a Community wide sharing of information on prevention measures that have 
been proven to be successful. The effective exchange of experiences will avoid duplication of 
work, facilitate maximum utilisation of available knowledge and secure greater benefits from 
limited resources. 

Within  this  Community  action  plan  the  Commission  determines  key  priority  areas  for 
prevention measures on injuries by taking account of the social impact of injuries in terms of 
the number, severity and consequences of the various categories of injury, evidence regarding 
the  effectiveness  of 
implementation  of 
interventions within Member States. The priority areas are: 

interventions,  and  feasibility  of  successful 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

1 
2 

Safety of children and adolescents; 

Safety of elderly citizens; 

Safety of vulnerable road users; 

Prevention of sports injuries; 

Prevention of injuries caused by products and services; 

OJ L […], […], p. […] 
Decision  No  1786/2002/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  September  2002 
adopting  a  programme  of  Community  action  in  the  field  of  public  health  (2003  –  2008),  OJ  L  271, 
9.10.2002, p. 1. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
                                                 
– 

– 

Prevention of self-harm; 

Prevention of interpersonal violence. 

Furthermore,  the  Commission  intends  to  develop  Community  wide  campaigns  in  order  to 
inform  the  public  about  the  quantity  of  the  accidents  and  injuries,  to  increase  standards  of 
primary  prevention,  disseminate  good  practice,  and  to  provide  health  administrations  of 
Member States with policy tools for national actions. 

The draft Council Recommendation on the Prevention of Injury and the Promotion of Safety 
is a first step to combine the efforts of the Commission with those of the Member States for 
actions for a safer Europe, in order to reduce the costs that the health system has to undergo 
because of injuries. Through a joint approach of the Commission and the Member States in 
injury  prevention,  it  is  expected  that  the  high  toll  of  injuries  will  decrease  and  that  the 
situation within the Member States related to accidents and injuries will improve significantly. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
2006/0106 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 

on the prevention of injury and the promotion of safety 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular  the 
second subparagraph of Article152 (4) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission3, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament4, 

Whereas 

(1) 

(2) 

Every year, about 235.000 citizens of the Community die as a result of an accident or 
violence.  Injuries  are,  after  cardiovascular  diseases,  cancer  and  respiratory  diseases, 
the forth most common cause of death in the Member States. 

In children, adolescents and young adults accidents and injuries are the leading cause 
of death. 

(3)  Many survivors of severe injuries suffer life-long impairments. Accidents and injuries 
are a main cause of chronic disability among younger people leading to a heavy and 
largely avoidable loss of life years in good health. 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

On  average,  injuries  account  for  about  6.8  million  hospital  admissions,  which 
represent 11 % of all hospital admissions in the European Union. 

Injuries  represent  a  huge  financial  burden  on  health  and  welfare  systems,  causing 
about 20 % of sick leave and constituting a major factor for reduced productivity. 

The  risk  of  an  injury  is  unequally  distributed  in  Member  States  as  well  as  in  social 
groups. The risk of dying from an injury is five times greater in the Member State with 
the highest injury rate than in that with the lowest rate. 

3 
4 

OJ L , , p. . 
OJ L , , p. . 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
 
 
                                                 
(7) 

In  contrast  to  many  other  causes  of  illness  or  premature  death,  injuries  can  be 
prevented by making our living environment, as well as products and services we use 
safer.  There  is  ample  evidence  of  proven  effectiveness  in  accident  measures  that  are 
still not widely applied throughout the Community. 

(8)  Most  of  these  measures  have  been  proven  cost-effective,  because  the  benefits  of 
prevention  for  health  systems  often  exceed  by  a  factor  of  several  times  the  costs  of 
intervention. 

(9) 

(10) 

(11) 

In spite of the fact that major advances have been made in a number of areas of safety 
concern like traffic or the workplace, there are other areas which are far less covered 
like  home,  leisure  and  sport,  accidents,  and  prevention  for  children  and  elderly 
citizens. 

It seems therefore necessary to develop a system of injury surveillance and reporting 
which  could  ensure  a  coordinated  approach  across  Member  States  to  develop  and 
establish  national  policies  on  prevention  of  injuries,  including  exchange  of  best 
practice.  Such  a  system  will  be  developed  under  Decision  No  1786/2002/EC  of  the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 adopting a programme 
of  Community  action  in  the  field  of  public  health  (2003-2008)5  and  any  successor 
programmes,  and  will  be  built  on  the  basis  of  national  injury  surveillance  and 
reporting systems to be developed in a coherent and harmonized manner. 

In order to streamline the resources of the Community Public Health Programme6 and 
to tackle injury prevention most effectively seven priority areas have been identified: 
safety of children and adolescents, safety of elderly citizens, safety of vulnerable road 
users,  prevention  of  sports  injuries,  prevention  of  injuries  caused  by  products  and 
services, prevention of self harm and prevention of violence. These priority areas have 
been  determined  by  taking  account  of  the  social  impact  of  injuries  in  terms  of  the 
number and severity, the evidence regarding the effectiveness of intervention actions 
and the feasibility of successful implementation in the Member States. 

HEREBY RECOMMENDS: 

With a view to providing for a high level of public health, Member States should: 

(1) 

(2) 

Develop  a  national  injury  surveillance  and  reporting  system,  which  provides 
comparable  information,  monitors  the  evolution  of  injury  risks  and  the  effects  of 
prevention  measures  over  time  and  assesses  the  needs  for  introducing  additional 
initiatives on product and service safety; 

Set up national plans for preventing accidents and injuries initiating interdepartmental 
co-operation and increasing funding opportunities for campaigning actions, promoting 
safety and implementing such national plans into practice, with a particular attention 
to children, elderly people and vulnerable road users, and with special regard to sports 
injuries, injuries caused by products and services, violence and self-harm. 

5 
6 

OJ L 271, 9.10.2002, p. 1. 
OJ L 271, 9.10.2002, p. 1. 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
                                                 
(3) 

Ensure that injury prevention and safety promotion is introduced in a systematic way 
in  vocational  training  of  health  care  professionals,  so  that  these  groups  can  serve  as 
competent advisors to their patients, clients and to the public. 

HEREBY INVITES THE COMMISSION TO: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

Support  and  give  priority,  within  the  framework  of  the  Community  Public  Health 
Programme7  and  successor  programmes,  to  establish  a  Community-wide  injury 
surveillance system collecting injury data provided by the Member States on the basis 
of their national injury surveillance systems and make the information contained in the 
database easily accessible to all stakeholders; 

Establish  a  Community-wide  mechanism  for  the  exchange  of  information  on  good 
practice and disseminate this information to relevant stakeholders; 

Provide Member States with the necessary evidence for inclusion of injury prevention 
knowledge into the vocational training of health professionals; 

Support the development of good practice and policy actions in relation to the seven 
identified  priority  areas  using  the  resources  provided  for  in  the  Community  Public 
Health  Programme  and  successor  programmes  the  general  framework  for  financing 
Community actions in support of consumer policy8 and the Framework Programme for 
Research9; 

Carry out an evaluation report four years after the adoption of this Recommendation to 
determine  whether  the  measures  proposed  are  working  effectively  and  to  assess  the 
need for further actions. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

7 
8 

9 

OJ L 271, 9.10.2002, p. 1. 
Decision  N°20/2004/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  8  December  2003 
establishing a general framework for financing Community actions in support of consumer policy for 
the years 2004 to 2007, OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p.1. 
Decision No1513/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2002 concerning 
the sixth framework programme of the European Community for research, technological development 
and  demonstration  activities,  contributing  to  the  creation  of  the  European  Research  Area  and  to 
innovation (2002 – 2006), OJ L 232, 28.8.2002, p. 1. 

EN 

6 

   EN