Single European emergency number 112

The single European emergency call number was introduced in 1991. The aim of EU legislators has been to ensure that all citizens in need have access to emergency services as soon as possible.

Precisely on December 15, 2020, the REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the effectiveness of the application of the single European emergency number “112” was published, with data collected by the European Commission since 2007. The Commission It will continue to collect 112 usage data and report to the European Parliament and the Council every two years.

According to the data collected up to 2020, among the main findings, the Commission’s report states the following:

“End-users with disabilities do not benefit from equivalent means of access, especially when roaming. While these end-users are not able to place a call to ‘112’, they have to rely on nationally fragmented solutions often not equivalent to the two-way voice communication. This state of affairs is in contrast with the availability of the harmonised single European emergency number ‘112’ for other end-users. Roaming end-users do not always have access to emergency services ensured in the visited Member States and they are not informed on the means of access available.”

Therefore, among the actions and milestones for the future, they consider that:

“Member States have to transpose and implement the necessary measures to comply with the requirements of the EECC and in particular Article 109 on emergency communications and the single European emergency number. All end-users, including end-users with disabilities, no matter where in the European Union, should be able to effectively request and receive help from emergency services.”