92001E3654

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3654/01

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(15 January 2002)

Subject: Fire at Paris hotel checks on observance of European fire prevention standards

On 17 December 2001 four people, including two young Italian women, died in a fire probably of criminal origin at the Hôtel du Palais in Paris.

This tragic occurrence has pointed up the frequent and deliberate failure to apply the strict European rules on fire risks and their prevention in full, or, indeed, at all, especially at hotels.

Does the Commission not consider that checks should be made concerning the real observance of the anti-fire standards in the Member States?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(18 February 2002)

The Commission has been informed about the fire which claimed the lives of four people and injured seven at the Hôtel du Palais in Paris during the night of 17 December 2001.

According to the initial police findings, it was an act of arson and the perpetrator, a habitual offender, was apprehended on the spot.

Given these tragic circumstances, the Commission is unable to comment on the way in which safety standards were implemented in the case in question. This is particularly so when there is a deliberate intention to start a fire, in which case even rigorous application of the preventive arrangements in force may prove insufficient.

However, generally speaking, the Commission shares the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member and is currently working, in collaboration with the Member States, on improvements which could be made to the main Community instrument applicable: Council Recommendation 86/666/EEC of 22 December 1986 on fire safety in existing hotels(1).

The first phase of this work was concluded with the adoption, on 27 June 2001, of a Commission report on application of the Recommendation(2). This report points out that the Recommendation has helped to improve safety, particularly in areas where it was most needed, and also identifies grey areas which ought to be addressed. In this connection, the report raises points for consideration with a view to furthering the Commission's work on the subject.

The second phase (improvement of the existing arrangements) has just commenced and will initially entail updating the requirements contained in the Recommendation's guidelines. Subsequently, in the course of 2003, the measures taken should help to reinforce the objective set out in the Recommendation, namely to provide consumers with a high and consistent level of safety protection against the risks of fire in all the hotels of the Community.

(1) OJ L 384, 31.12.1986.

(2) COM(2001) 348 final.