Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/444 of 16 December 2022 supplementing Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council with measures to ensure effective access to emergency services through emergency communications to the single European emergency number ‘112’ (Text with EEA relevance)

CHAPTER 1

SUBJECT MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

This Regulation establishes measures to ensure effective access to emergency services through emergency communications with regard to caller location information solutions, access for end-users with disabilities and routing to the most appropriate PSAP.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘effective emergency communication’ means emergency communication as defined in Article 2, point (38) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 that ensures: (a) timely communication between the end-user and the most appropriate PSAP, and (b) the making available in a timely manner of contextual information, including caller location information;

(2) ‘contextual information’ means the information conveyed through an emergency communication by the end-user or derived and transmitted automatically from the device of the end-user or the relevant network in order to enable the timely identification of the intervention resources of the emergency services and the fast arrival of the emergency services at the intervention scene.

CHAPTER 2

CALLER LOCATION INFORMATION

Article 3

With respect to the fixed networks:

(a) the accuracy criterion for caller location information shall be expressed as information related to the physical address of the network termination point;

(b) the reliability criterion for caller location information shall be expressed as the success rate, in percentage, of the technical solution or mix of technical solutions to establish and transmit to the most appropriate PSAP a caller location information corresponding to the accuracy criterion.

With respect to the mobile networks:

(a) the accuracy criterion for caller location information shall be expressed in metres. If applicable, the elevation or vertical accuracy criterion shall be expressed in metres as well;

(b) the reliability criterion for caller location information shall be expressed as the success rate, in percentage, of the technical solution or mix of technical solutions to establish and transmit to the most appropriate PSAP a search area corresponding to the accuracy criterion.

CHAPTER 3

ACCESS TO EMERGENCY SERVICES FOR END-USERS WITH DISABILITIES

Article 4

When implementing means of access to emergency services through emergency communications for end-users with disabilities, Member States shall ensure that, subject to technical feasibility, the following functional equivalence requirements are met:

(a) the emergency communication enables two-way interactive communication between the end-user with disabilities and the PSAP;

(b) the emergency communication is available in a seamless way, without pre-registration, to end-users with disabilities travelling in another Member State;

(c) the emergency communication is provided to end-users with disabilities free of charge;

(d) the emergency communication is routed without delay to the most appropriate PSAP that is qualified and equipped to appropriately answer and process the emergency communication from end-users with disabilities;

(e) equivalent levels of accuracy and reliability of caller location information are ensured for the emergency communication for end-users with disabilities as for emergency calls by other end-users;

(f) the end-users with disabilities are enabled to reach at least the same level of awareness about the means of access to emergency services through emergency communications as other end-users about emergency calls to ‘112’, either by the design of the means of access or through awareness raising measures.

CHAPTER 4

ROUTING TO THE MOST APPROPRIATE PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT

Article 5

Member States shall ensure that emergency communications and caller location information are routed without delay to the most appropriate PSAP that is technically capable to convey the contextual information to the emergency services when alerting those services.

Article 6

For the purpose of ensuring the technical feasibility of the seamless access to emergency services as provided in Article 4(1), point (b) of this Regulation, without prejudice to the implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/882, Member States shall cooperate with the Commission to identify common interoperability requirements that enable the emergency communication to the most appropriate PSAP via a mobile application anywhere in the Union.

CHAPTER 5

REPORTING

Article 7

Article 8

Member States shall report to the Commission no later than on 5 March 2024:

(a) the criteria for the accuracy and reliability of caller location information expressed according to the parameters referred to in Article 3,

(b) the means of access to emergency services through emergency communications to be used by end-users with disabilities, including those using roaming services, and the assessment of their compliance with the functional equivalence requirements in Article 5.

CHAPTER 6

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 9

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.