Labour MEP insists EU needs simpler distress hotline

Labour MEP Claudette Abela Baldacchino said that the European Commission should consider a simpler emergency hotline for emotionally distressed people who could be at risk of suicide.

“Many people in emotional distress deserve to be helped. As MEP back in June 2013 I had asked Commissioner Neelie Kroes to introduce a European-wide emergency number for people in urgent emotional distress,” Abela Baldacchino said.

But the Commission had answered back then that it did not consider the suggestion to introduce a three-digit number (116) for emotional support helplines feasible, “not least because such an arrangement would render all other 116 numbers inaccessible to services of social value including, for example, the 116000 missing children hotline.”

Abela Baldacchino said that she had asked the Commission for such a service because anyone in such circumstances should be able to use a well-known and simple number to reach out for help.

“I am disappointed at the fact that the Commission does not want to take initiative in this regard.”

In 2007, the Commission launched an initiative requiring Member States to implement free of charge telephone hotlines and helplines for services of social value. These free telephone services have a six-digit number range starting with 116, and one of them is the 116 123 number for people in need of emotional support.

An implementation report, published by the Commission on 6 May 2013, showed that there is slight progress in implementing these numbers in the Member States.

The same report, however, shows that there is scant awareness among the general public of these helplines.

In fact, the latest survey on this, dating from 2011, showed that only 13% of European citizens had heard of the 116 numbers, and there is no reason to assume that this has increased over the past few years.

“People in acute emotional distress are not helped by a number comprising six digits,” Abela Baldacchino had told the EC. “The purpose of emergency hotlines is that they form an easily accessible and immediate refuge in case of need.”

The 116 123 number has been assigned in 16 member states, but Kroes told the MEP that it was more important to continue to ensure further availability of the service across the EU Member States, and to support the service through adequate awareness raising measures.

The Universal Service Directive requires member states to encourage the provision of the 116 services within their territory, including the services provided over number 116 123. It also places the responsibility on member states to ensure that citizens are adequately informed of these services.

“The Commission is carefully monitoring the implementation, engaging in the process not only the national authorities but also the national 116 service providers, in order to promote an exchange of best practices and to assist the Member States in the implementation process. As a part of its own awareness raising campaign, the Commission launched a new 116 website to boost awareness of 116 services.

“The Commission does not consider the suggestion to introduce a three-digit number (116) for emotional support helplines feasible, not least because such an arrangement would render all other 116 numbers inaccessible to services of social value including, for example, the 116000 missing children hotline.”