Jon Worth: Be a diligent European citizen - 112 is the emergency number

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Rating: 5/5 with 3 votes

Published Friday, February 22, 2008 at 15:45
by jonworth Join PES activists (929 views and 6 comments)

112 LogoTwice in my life I've called the emergency services - 6 months ago, and today. Last autumn I was in the UK and had to report a break-in, and every Brit knows that the emergency number for police, ambulance or fire services: 999. Easy.

Today a nasty incident was developing in the street where I live in Brussels and I was the first person to exit from my flat and do something about it. But hell - what number do I call in Belgium? No idea. Yet thanks to the EU there's one emergency number - 112. Only because I'm a geek for EU policy things did I know it - plenty of European citizens do not.

The slight problem is that when you call 112 in Belgium it takes you to ambulance and fire services, not really what I wanted when I needed to urgently reach the police - they sorted it for me though. For readers living in Belgium here is the full list of emergency numbers. Wikipedia also has a handy page will all the emergency numbers for all countries across the world.

What can be learnt from all of this? Well, first of all, thanks to European legislation I was better able to respond to the emergency situation that was developing. It's from Directive 2002/22/EC and the legislation also guarantees that the number must work from any mobile phone too. I think even hardline British eurosceptics would have a tough job opposing something like that.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, efforts need to be stepped up to make citizens aware of these things that the European Union is doing. Signs in phone boxes stating 112 works everywhere? Leaflets in the box when people buy new mobile phones perhaps? The European Emergency Number Association has even established an online petition, encouraging the European Commission to legislate for improvements to the service that they argue could save 5000 lives each year.

So think 112 the next time you're away in another European country, and the campaign for better emergency services could maybe be taken up by some enterprising PES candidates at the 2009 European elections?

Tags: blogger of the week, EU, health, public services

Comments

1. A good campaign idea by fairness Join PES activists on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 16:10

I've seen the campaign before and think it's a good initiative. Isn't it one of those 1 mio. signatures petition?

2. Yes, they are aiming for 1 million by jonworth Join PES activists on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 16:21

Yes, they claim they are aiming for a million... They are quite far off it though! The only one that has managed 1 million is oneseat.eu as far as I'm aware but that seems to have made little difference. Having said that I reckon these petitions are more a way to make people feel part of a campaign than anything else.

3. A couple more by Asynjen Join PES activists on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 17:25

Hi Jon, as a Euro-nerd (if one can say that!) I've collected some of the citizens' initiative petitions on my blog, including this one: http://thesurface.blogspot.com/2007/03/another-constitution-inspired-petition.html. As you can see there's one on nuclear power as well!

4. a particular hard nut to crack by fairness Join PES activists on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 17:31

I agree that Oneseat doesn't seem to have had a lot of impact - but it's also a really difficult issue they've chosen. Maybe I'm naive, but I'm slightly more optimistic about the possible political impact of such iniatives - I think the 112-petition has a better chance to make a difference.

5. Greenpeace alos managed actually... by jonworth Join PES activists on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 18:28

Have a look at this one from Greenpeace too (not listed in your post Asynjen):

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/1-million-europeans-call-for-g

Problem is it's hard to get the signatures, and then it's even harder to get anyone in the institutions to listen! But some systematic analysis of these petitions by candidates in 2009 could be quite handy.

As for oneseat - it was not helped by the MEP running it - Cecilia Malmström - leaving the EP to become Europe Minister in Sweden. I suspect she won't raise it during the Swedish Presidency in 2009 either. :-( 

6. Added to the collection by Asynjen Join PES activists on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 00:25

Thanks, Jon. Now my list is complete again!

http://thesurface.blogspot.com/2008/02/oh-yet-another.html

If anyone else are aware of any 1 million petitions in Europe, don't hesitate to let me know!

 

 

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