The 112 Newsletter, Issue 17 September 2006

Objective: One million signatures

Improve the quality of the European emergency call number now ! Join other European and non-European citizens travelling in Europe in signing the petition!.
  

We still need to translate the homepage of the electronic petition website in several European languages. Do not hesitate to help us on this by sending the translation to info@eena.org. Thank you in advance!

Since 25th July 2003, 500 people die every month because the European Commission refuses to impose on Member states quality criteria for emergency calls to the 112

A support committee for the citizens' Europe promised, made up only by Citizens has been created to join the initiative of the European Emergency Number Association who is petitioning the European Parliament on the non-implementation of European legislation concerning the single European emergency call number (112) and the failure of the European Commission to act.

Because it does not seem obvious to the European Commission to guarantee a high quality service for the whole chain of the 112 services, the committee has just launched an electronic petition with the objective to get the signature of 100 million  European citizens travelling within the EU every year as well as other people travelling in Europe for business or holidays. We find the attitude of the European Commission unacceptable and we feel hopeless and then obliged to act in such a way on this matter which remains the first preoccupation of the majority of Europeans. People who want to sign the electronic petition can do so at www.112petition.org.
  
Citizens will testify on behalf of a better 112 implementation on Wednesday 13th September from 12.30 by passing by the Solvay Park in Brussels (just behind the European Parliament) and by bringing messages that will be filmed and delivered to the European Parliament at the occasion of
THE MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON PETITIONS on  where the issue will be discussed and a representative of the committee will deliver to the president of the European Parliament and the president of the committee on petitions the first signatories of the electronic petition.

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EENA invited at the European Parliament

The Committee on Petitions finally considered the petition EENA introduced in July 2005 and decided that a discussion on issues we raised would be scheduled on 13th September. EENA will defend the following position:

Statement by Olivier PAUL-MORANDINI, Founder/President of the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) during the meeting of the Committee of Petitions on 13th September 2006, European Parliament, Brussels (extracts)

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..."What I ask you to consider, Honourable Members of the European Parliament when deciding upon your further action on the issue of the 112, are the following:


1. The dozens of millions of tourists who every year are unaware of the 112 when on holidays. Are they facing an increased risk when abroad because of the Commission's unwillingness to take complete action or not?

2. Isn't it evident that the 112 is a horizontal issue touching many areas of Community action? Doesn't it concern Health, Safety in the workplace, Civil protection, Road safety, protection from terrorist attacks, home and leisure accidents, Tourism as well as safety and security in general? When the Community acts for the safety of toys and for tobacco control should the 112 be treated as a purely telecommunications issue?

3. The Commission declares its inability to guarantee that citizens using the 112 will get help of the highest quality, as soon as possible, on the site of the emergency. In fact calling the 112 is in a certain way putting the caller in a position less favourable compared with people calling their national emergency call numbers. How this compares with the Commission's own effort to justify further steps of European integration? And finally,

4. The Commission declares that it does not dispose the legal basis for forcing the Member States to improve the quality of services provided through the 112 service chain. Even if this was true, shouldn't the Commission act at political level by evaluating on the basis of the already available methodology, financed with Community money, the quality of the 112 and making the results public? It is called «name and shame» and the Commission uses it in several cases...

You will get the whole statement in the next 112 Newsletter.