112 Day: Saving lives by quickly and easily reaching emergency services anywhere in the EU

Today, on 11 February, the EU celebrates the Single Emergency Number 112 day. This day aims to raise awareness about 112, the single European emergency number that everyone in any EU country can dial to reach emergency services. In the 30 years that 112 has been in use, the Commission has been continuously working to ensure that everyone is able to reach 112 easily and effectively, using the most recent technologies. The EU telecom rules aim to ensure that the latest smartphone technology, also known as Advanced Mobile Location, is used to locate the caller (with accuracy of up to 5 meters) and quickly share the caller’s location with the emergency call responders. The Commission is currently working on measures to further enhance emergency communications across Europe, which it will put forward by the end of 2022. They should make the transmission of emergency calls to the closest emergency call centre more effective, ensure that people with disabilities have the same access to emergency services and that caller location transmission is accurate and quick. Furthermore, the new Roaming Regulation that will allow Europeans visiting other EU countries to continue using their phone abroad at no extra cost, will also ensure that citizens are more precisely located in case of emergency and that emergency communications are free of charge. By June 2023, customers will automatically receive an SMS from operators when they travel abroad, to inform them about 112 and available alternative means of accessing emergency services for people with disabilities, such as through real-time-text or apps. Each year on 11 February, awareness-raising activities are organised across the EU to promote the existence and knowledge of Europe’s single emergency number. More information about 112 is available online.