The Seveso II Directive (96/82/EC) on the control of major accident hazards defines a number of requirements for the operators of industrial sites using a certain amount of dangerous substances. In particular, the operators of chemical, petrochemical, storage and warehouses, metal refining industries, where the amount of dangerous substances is exceeding the thresholds laid down in annex 1 of the directive have to define a major accident prevention policy, and for the upper tiers to establish a safety report, implement a safety management system and define an internal emergency plan.

These requirements aim at preventing major accidents and mitigating their consequences, for the benefice of the society and the environment. However, non uniform implementation of these requirements in the various Member States can create significant market distortions within the European Union, and if the requirements in Europe compared to other part of the world are to strict and the impacts of these requirements not obvious, then the competitiveness of the industry can be affected.

Several recent projects and initiatives like the ARAMIS and SHAPE-RISK projects, or the survey performed by OECD on the Use of Safety Reports or Equivalent Documents in the Control of Major Accident Hazards, as well as the work of the European Technology Platform on Industrial Safety (ETPIS) have pointed out some possible improvements regarding the methods and tools used to control major accident hazards.

The European Commission is planning the revision of the Seveso II Directive (96/82/EC) starting in 2008. To monitor the implementation of the Seveso II Directive, and its amendments, the Commission Services establish a report every 3 years, based on the information provided by the Member States. But this information doesn't enable a qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of the directive and of its impact.

Therefore, to complement the regular triennial reports, which are essentially quantitative, the Commission Services have launched a study to assess the effectiveness of the directive and identify improvements that could be incorporated in a new version.

The European Virtual Institute for Integrated Risk Management (EU-VRi) has designed the F-SEVESO project and gained the contract for the European Commission Services to perform the study on the effectiveness of the Seveso II Directive.

• the adequation of the requirements imposed by the Directive to the operators of Seveso II Establishments and the objectives to prevent major accident and mitigate their consequences ;

• the effectiveness of the implementation, in terms of compliance in the various Member States and industrial sectors, and the assessment of possible market distortion.

The project has been performed through a detailed survey, based on questionnaires and interviews.

Final report is available on the DG ENV website, at the bottom of the page, click here.
To download the report and its annexes:
. for the final report
. Annex 1A
. Annex 1B