"I am pleased to close the 112 case against Poland now that it has introduced a system for providing caller location information to emergency services. European citizens should be able to count on the ability of emergency services to locate them when they call 112 without knowing where, or how to explain where, they are. When their lives and health are at risk getting help from emergency services should be as easy as '1+1=2', whether they are at home or abroad in the EU,” said Viviane Reding, the EU Telecoms Commissioner. "I now urge the remaining Member States where problems with 112 still exist to ensure that caller location functions properly as a matter of urgency.”
EU Telecoms rules require Member States to make sure that people can call the single European emergency number 112 free of charge nationwide from any type of phone (fixed or mobile). They must also ensure that 112 calls are answered and handled efficiently and that operators provide information on the caller's location to emergency services.
The Commission opened an infringement case against Poland in December 2006 as caller location was not available for 112 calls from mobile phones. This February, it suspended its previous decision to refer the case to the European Court of Justice having been informed by the Polish authorities that interim measures had been put in place allowing emergency services to obtain caller location information.
In response to the infringement proceeding, Poland has now set up a caller location system allowing emergency services to retrieve caller location information for 112 calls from special websites set up by mobile phone operators. In July 2008, Polish authorities informed the Commission that caller location was available for all types of calls, throughout the country. The Commission verified this with all mobile network operators and the case can now be closed.
Since 2006, the Commission has launched infringement proceedings for lack of caller location against 14 Member States. Nine of the caller location cases have now been closed having being remedied. The European Court of Justice has already ruled on three 112 infringement cases, finding a breach of EU law because caller location information was only partially available in Slovakia (Judgment of 25 July 2008), and not available at all for 112 calls from mobile phones in Lithuania (Judgment of 11 September 2008) and the Netherlands (9 October 2008). One more case on lack of caller location information (Italy) is currently before the Court.
