Product safety - Presentation of the annual report on Rapex, the rapid alert system for non-food dangerous products, Brussel - Hoofdinhoud

On 08 May, Commissioner John Dalli will present the key findings of the 2011 annual report published on that day concerning Rapex, the EU-wide rapid alert system for dangerous products. The findings of the report will include the trends in the number of products notified thanks to the system, the top product categories, the most active member states notifying unsafe products, and the countries of origin.

What: Press Conference with John Dalli, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy

Directly following the press conference, the Commissioner will visit the exhibition on product safety outside the press room, and will be able to answer further questions. Commission experts as well as representatives of national authorities and industry associations will be present to show products and testing equipment.

When: Tuesday 08 May, after the Midday Briefing

Where: Berlaymont Press Room, in Brussels

IP and MEMO will be available on the day

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  Available on EbS

RAPEX is a Community rapid alert system for dangerous products. It ensures that information about dangerous products withdrawn from the EU market and/or recalled from consumers is quickly circulated between Member States and the European Commission, with the aim of preventing or restricting the selling of these products on the market. 30 countries currently participate in the system. The participating countries are all the European Union countries and the EFTA/EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Both preventive and restrictive measures ordered by national authorities and measures taken voluntarily by producers and distributors are covered by RAPEX. The most common measures are a ban/stop on sales, withdrawal of a dangerous product from the market, providing information to consumers about the risks related to the use of the product, or recall of a dangerous product from consumers.

On 1 January 2010, the scope of RAPEX was extended to cover also 'non-consumer' products and risks to other public interests than 'health and safety of consumers'. RAPEX applies now to both 'consumer' and 'non-consumer' products (for instance, a power drill, a lamp, a cosmetic or a toy). The RAPEX system covers the majority of products, but certain categories of products are excluded from its scope. For example, for food and feed, a specific alert system (RASFF), similar to RAPEX, is in place. Specific systems are in place also for medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/index_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/safety/news/index_en.htm

Commissioner John Dalli's website:

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/dalli/index_en.htm

Frédéric Vincent: +32 2 298 71 66 Frederic.Vincent@ec.europa.eu

Aikaterini Apostola: +32 2 298 76 24 Aikaterini.Apostola@ec.europa.eu

Friday 11 May: Spring 2012 Economic Forecast

The Commission publishes its spring economic forecast for 2012-2013 for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation, employment and public finances, amongst other indicators, for all 27 European Union countries, plus the EU and euro area aggregates.

The Commission publishes economic forecasts four times a year: two comprehensive exercises in spring and autumn, plus two other exercises in between – the interim forecasts – on GDP growth and inflation.

In the last exercise, the EU interim forecast of 23 February, the Commission announced that the euro area was in mild recession with signs of stabilisation. It also announced that the unexpected stalling of the recovery in late 2011 was set to extend into the first two quarters of 2012. However, modest growth was predicted to return in the second half of the year.

Press Conference with Vice-President Olli Rehn in the Berlaymont press room in Brussels at 11h00 hrs.

IP and economic forecast available on the day.

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  Available on EbS

IP/12/163 – February 2012 EU Interim Forecast

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/163

European Commission websites:

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu/forecasts/index_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/articles/eu_economic_situation/2012-02-23-interim-forecast_en.htm

Amadeu Altafaj Tardio + 32 2 295 2658 amadeu.altafaj-tardio@ec.europa.eu

Vandna Kalia + 32 2 299 5824 vandna.kalia@ec.europa.eu

Audrey Augier + 32 2 297 1607 audrey.augier@ec.europa.eu

Reference information

Reference information