EU emergency number 112 marks 30th anniversary

‘112′, the common EU number for emergency communications has been saving lives for 30 years, helping Europeans travel safely and reach emergency services in any EU country through the single EU number. In 2019, Europeans called ‘112′ close to 150 million times, which represents 56% of all emergency calls, while in the last 10 years, some 1.5 billion calls were made to the number. Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the internal market, said: “112 has been keeping Europeans safe, allowing them to easily reach emergency services wherever they are in the EU. All citizens should be aware of the single EU number and Member States should ensure that the latest available technology is used to efficiently respond to callers in distress.” Behind the 112 number, operators and national Public Safety Answering Point systems must ensure that emergency communications are effective and properly handled. The Commission supports the technological upgrade of emergency communications. For example, the implementation of Advanced Mobile Location (AML) was financed in 10 Member States through the HELP112 and HELP112 II projects. In 10 years, AML could potentially save more than 10,000 lives in the EU by more precisely pinpointing the caller’s location. When a caller dials 112 from their smartphone, AML uses the phone’s functionalities and the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system, to accurately and efficiently transmit the caller’s location to emergency services. AML is available in 19 Member States, Iceland and Norway. The Commission urges all Member States to quickly implement this life-saving technology, in line with the European Electronic Communications Code. The Commission continues to closely monitor the implementation of the emergency number 112 in Member States, through regular reports. More information is available here.