EC Warns 12 Member States About Emergency Plans for Chemical Plants

November 6, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

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The European Commission (EC) sent a final written warning to 12 member states of the European Union (EU) for failing to set up emergency plans for areas surrounding industrial installations where hazardous substances are handled.

The plans are a requirement of the Seveso II directive, the key piece of EU legislation to prevent major industrial accidents and lessen their effects.

Stavros Dimas, EC environment commissioner, said, "Although we cannot eliminate the risk of industrial accidents in modern societies, we can strive to minimise the risks of such accidents happening and to mitigate their consequences.

"It is thus vital that legislation designed to deal with this is properly implemented. I am dismayed to see that several years after its entry into force and repeated warnings from the commission, very few member states have adopted external emergency plans for all installations concerned."

Emergency plans for industrial installations
The EC sent final written warnings to Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden for failing to properly implement the directive on the control of major accidents involving dangerous substances (directive 96/82/EC, as amended by directive 2003/105/EC - commonly known as the Seveso II directive).

Almost 8,000 establishments are subject to this directive's safety requirements in the EU and about half of these need external emergency plans. Under the directive, emergency plans must be drawn up for areas surrounding certain industrial installations where very large quantities of dangerous substances are to be found.

Such external emergency plans should have been in place since 2002 for the first 15 EU member states and since 2004 for the next 10 member states, but several installations in many states still are not covered, despite repeated reminders from the EC. There have been improvements in many installations, but, on average, the complying number is still very low. As a result, the EC decided to send the infringing member states a final written warning.

External emergency plans cover measures that should be taken outside installations during a major accident or emergency. The plans must contain on-site and off-site mitigation actions and also provide the public with specific information relating to the accident and the behaviour to adopt. In every member state, designated authorities are responsible for drawing up these emergency plans plus ensuring they are tested and, where necessary, revised at least every three years.

Legal process
Article 226 of the treaty by which the EU was formed gives the EC powers to take legal action against a member state that is not respecting its obligations.

If the EC considers that there may be a violation of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a Letter of Formal Notice (first written warning) to the member state concerned, requesting it to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months.

In the light of the reply or absence of a reply from the member state concerned, the EC may decide to address a Reasoned Opinion (final written warning) to the member state. This clearly and definitively sets out the reasons why it considers there to have been an infringement of EU law, and calls upon the member state to comply within a specified period, usually two months.

If the member state fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the EC may decide to bring the case before the European Court of Justice. If that court finds that the treaty has been infringed, the offending member state is required to take the measures necessary to conform.

Article 228 of the treaty gives the EC power to act against a member state that does not comply with a previous judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. The article also allows the EC to ask the court to impose a financial penalty on the member state concerned.

Rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Communities are available online.

Source: European Commission.