The 112 Newsletter, Issue 28

You can also read this newsletter in your language using Google Translate at http://www.eena.org/preview/en/Media/newsletter/issue_28.html

The Council of the European Union (Member States) has adopted the Universal Service directive on October 26th. The text was proposed in 2007 by the European Commission and had been the subject of debates at the Council and the European Parliament since then. EENA has been providing expertise to the decision-makers on the issues pertaining to 112 and would like to thank all MEPs 112 Champions, Advisory Board and 112 ESSN Members for their contributions. EENA is satisfied with the final adopted version of the directive as it contains major improvements in comparison to the former version of the Universal Service Directive.
The new directive provides in particular for better accessibility of 112 for people with disabilities as well as the possibility for the Commission to define accuracy and reliability requirements for caller-location. Caller-location information will be free of charge for emergency services and made available instantly.
The provisions concerning the European emergency number 112 in this Directive are presented in the document available below.

 View here the reformed Universal Service Directive (112 issues only) (87KB)

The European Commission made a last call to all EU countries to speed up voluntary implementation of the new in-car communication technology eCall that could save 2 500 lives every year. The eCall system automatically dials 112 when a car has a serious accident and sends its location to the nearest emergency service. The Commission warned in a policy document that if no significant progress is made in rolling out the system by the end of 2009 it could propose regulatory measures to make this life-saving technology available all over Europe as soon as possible (by 2014).

The EENA is setting up an Operations Committee gathering PSAP leaders and solution providers. It will aim at developing performance indicators and requirements for emergency services when dealing with 112 calls. During the first 6 months, all the national 112 models will be presented. NENA documents on operations will also be analysed and will provide a basis for the activities.  

During the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, the EENA and the Directorate General for Civil Protection of the Region of Murcia (Spain) have decided to organise a large European event on the 112 number. The aim of this event is to share best practices and to propose a reviewed roadmap to the EU institutions and Member States (see actual recommendations prepared during the workshop on 112 in June 2009 in Brussels - www.eena.org). Representatives from emergency services, public authorities, telecom regulators or mandated private companies from all European countries will attend the event. The EENA believes that this EU 112 event will pave the way to further actions to promote 112 and the tools for its efficient use and functioning.

The EENA has recently opened on its website a multilingual page dedicated to reporting testimonies about emergency calls in the EU (112 and other national emergency numbers). The EENA wants to collect citizens' feedbacks and will make sure that every testimony is considered by the relevant authorities. The goal is to help improve the handling of emergency calls in the EU and to assist authorities to be better informed about some remaining challenges.

English version of the complaint page: www.testimony112.eu (also available in French, German, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Finnish and Greek versions available).

Ms Majdoline Mouflih has joined EENA in order to collect detailed information from North African emergency services and citizens' satisfaction. EENA is now sending questionnaires to be filled in by the responsible authorities and is willing to share the responses with the EU institutions in view of extending the use of 112 to North African countries where EU citizens travel massively.

A proposed amendment to the EU budget has officially been accepted by the European Parliament for the second year in a row. While no call for proposals was published on the NG112 topic in 2009, the European Commission has been invited to dedicate part of ICT PSP appropriations in the CIP -  Competitiveness and Innovation Programme - to ensure "testing, and support deployment across the EU, of the next-generation 112, innovative services for interoperable emergency services and 112 for all citizens, enabling quicker, more efficient reactions and life-saving, inter alia through remodelling the traditional technical architecture for emergency calling and lowering its cost and complexity, with the ultimate aim of providing an optimum response to 112 calls made by all citizens, including users with disabilities."

The 11th of February 2010 is still far away but emergency services from all Europe are already thinking about the European 112 Day. During a conference call organised by the 112 Foundation and the EENA, representatives from emergency services met to discuss ways to promote the 112 number and to exchange experiences and knowledge in this field. Sweden, Romania, Spain and Iceland presented how they promoted 112 during previous European 112 Days and what they are planning to organise in 2010.

In order to efficiently promote 112 in each EU Member State, the 112 Foundation proposed to nominate one 112 Ambassador in each European country. Monica Anghel, a notorious singer and actress in Romania, was the first Ambassador for 112 to be nominated. Nara Noian has just been appointed as the Belgian representative of 112. She performed the 112 Anthem at the European Parliament during the first official European 112 Day on the 11th of February 2009.

The EENA is funded with private sponsorships and memberships along with public funding for specific EU projects. The first funding for EENA was delivered by the Belgian federal government in 1999. Olivier Paul-Morandini, President and Founder of EENA, also supported the association for several years by donating some of his personal money. Although nowadays the EENA memberships include solution providers and emergency services representatives, the EENA does not defend nor promote their interests. The EENA only promotes the right of citizens to know the 112 number and to get the appropriate service when in distress as well as efficient early warning in cases of developing emergencies and disasters. The EENA believes that no stakeholders should be excluded from the efforts to improve the general functioning of 112.  Gathering a large number of key players, the EENA encourages the improvement of the quality of service to the citizens by fostering sharing of best practices and the development of common standards. The EENA also reminds that its balance sheet is publicly available on its website (see "About the EENA").

 View here the 2008 balance sheet (15KB)

 View here the 2007 balance sheet (9236B)