Assessment

Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the placing on the market of pyrotechnic articles

 Impact Assessment by the EU Commission

 TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. Issue that the proposal tackles                                                                               

2. Main objectives that the proposal is expected to reach                                        

3. Main policy options available to reach the objective                                            

4. Impacts expected from the different options identified                                      

5. Monitoring the results and impacts of the proposal after implementation            

6. Stakeholder consultation                                                                                       

7. Commission draft proposal and justification                                                         

1.  Issue that the proposal tackles

Pyrotechnical articles (eg distress flares, fireworks) are designed to produce effects such as the generation of gas, light, noise or smoke by chemical means.  Fireworks and automotive occupant restraint systems (eg car air bags and seat belt pre-tensioners), represent the major uses of such articles within the EU.

The EU market for fireworks

The EU firework industry essentially comprises SMEs and is estimated to employ around 3,000 people in the EU. Few fireworks are manufactured in the EU. The vast majority of fireworks on the EU market are imported into the EU from China. As a result, most of those employed within the EU are involved in the purchasing, storage, distribution and professional display of fireworks. Many of those fireworks which are manufactured in the EU are for professional use (category 4).

Source: Eurostat

The EU market for fireworks for sale to consumers (categories 1, 2 and 3) is estimated to around €700 million per year.  The EU market for fireworks for sale to professionals only (category 4) is also estimated to be around  €700 million per year.

The EU market for automotive occupant restraint systems

It is estimated that automotive occupant restraint systems are placed in around 20 million vehicles in the EU each year. In the case of airbags, this amounts to around 80 million systems being placed on the market each year with a value of around €3.5 billion.   And in the case of seat belt pre-tensioners, around 90 million units are placed on the market each year with a value of around €2 billion.

Whereas the EU is a net importer of fireworks, it is a net exporter of automotive components containing pyrotechnic articles, such as airbag systems. One also has to keep in mind that many more airbag systems are being exported as parts of assembled motor vehicles.

Source: Eurostat

Accidents

Replying to a Commission questionnaire, unfortunately, only a limited number of Member States and 1 EFTA Member provided numerical information on accidents involving fireworks. In some cases, this might be the result of national systems for the recording of accidents not containing specific information on fireworks as a cause of accident. 2 Member States also provided general information on accidents involving fireworks. For those countries which were able to provide numerical information on accidents, the table below lists some of the information recorded and compares the number of accidents to the population of the Country.

Comparison of recorded accidents and population

(Accident rate listed as number of accidents per million inhabitants)

-Only listing those replying to the questionnaire

In addition to the above, a survey based on accidents recorded in a small number of Swedish hospitals in 1997 estimated that following an extrapolation, between 400 -500 persons were injured by fireworks in Sweden each year. This estimate results in an accident rate of between 45 and 56 accidents per million inhabitants.

It should be noted that the above only lists reported accidents and is based on cases requiring hospital treatment. It does not include information on accidents which may have been treated by a General Practitioner or that may have occurred in the home and have not been reported. It is therefore possible that the number of accidents recorded underreports the true number.

Beyond stating the above factual information, it is not possible to read much into the data provided and any attempts to do so must be treated with caution.

It appears that accident rates vary between countries. This may be in part due to local customs for the public usage of fireworks. These differences in public attitude to fireworks relate to the times of year when fireworks are most in demand, the type of firework used, and the way in which consumers approach these products.

Given that it is not possible to read much into the information beyond stating factual data, any attempt to estimate a figure for the total number of accidents across the EU must be treated very cautiously. However, a lower accident rate might be in the region of 15 per million and an upper rate might be in the region of 100 per million. Using these rates for an enlarged EU population of 455 million would give a total number of accidents involving fireworks of between 7,000 and 45,000 for this area.

For fireworks injuries by type of fireworks, the only detailed figures available from an EU Member State are from the UK:

Firework Injuries in Great Britain 2002-2004

(4 week period in October-November)

Type of Firework