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EC assesses access to emergency services in Mediterranean Partner Countries
15-07-2010
The European Commission has launched a study on the ‘Access to emergency services in the Mediterranean Partner Countries and the use of the single European emergency call number 112’ with the aim of assessing safety solutions available to citizens travelling, living and working in the Mediterranean area.
A press release from the PPRD South civil protection programme said the results of the study would be shared with the Civil Protection Authorities of the Partner Countries in view of discussing possibilities to improve the access and the organization of emergency services in the region.
At present Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria and Tunisia use different emergency call numbers. This could expose foreign visitors travelling in these countries to a risk of delay in calling the emergency services.
112 is the single emergency telephone number for the European Union. It was established 1991 and is now used in all EU member states, in some candidate countries (such as Croatia and Turkey), as part of their approximation to the EU acquis, and in a few Mediterranean Partners.
Expanding the access to 112 to the entire region could provide citizens and visitors with increased safety in emergency situations and could be beneficial to South-South as well as to North-South exchanges.
The single European emergency call number '112' is not intended to replace national numbers. Some Member States have introduced 112 as their main emergency number, while in most others 112 operates alongside other national emergency numbers.
The €5 million PPRD South Programme aims to contribute to the improvement of the civil protection capacities of Mediterranean partner countries at international, national and local levels. (ENPI Info Centre)
PPRD South – fiche and news
PPRD South – website
