IMI - sending and Receiving Alerts
In order to ensure that service providers who are operating in more than one EEA state are not causing either serious damage to the environment or a danger to public health or safety an ‘alert mechanism’ facility is being built into the Internal Market Information (IMI) system.
The European Commission expects to have this alert mechanism ready for use by the end of the year. This will enable competent and local authorities who have become aware of a service provider undertaking such dangerous activity, to immediately inform the competent authorities in other EEA states where it is known that the service provider operates. It will enable the competent authorities of relevant EEA states to react quickly, to closely supervise the service provider in question and if required, take necessary preventative action in compliance with the Directive.
Given that alerts should only be sent where there is evidence of a business causing serious risk to the environment or a danger to public health and safety, not all competent authorities will ever need to trigger an alert. All other breaches of regulations will be dealt with using the normal channels. We do not think that there will be many cases which will require an alert to be sent. We expect that the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency (along with the equivalent bodies in the devolved administrations) may occasionally need to send an alert, but local authorities may also have to use the alert mechanism and will have to know how it works. Article 32 of the Services Directive and Regulation 42 of the Provision of Services Regulations contain the relevant legal obligations.
All alerts have to be sent via the IMI National Liaison Point (NLP) in BIS, who will forward it to other EEA states on behalf of the competent authority who has generated the alert. However, it is up to the competent authority to ensure the details sent are accurate, and to update the alert information on the IMI system when necessary. The NLP’s role is limited to sending the alert on behalf of the requesting authority.
Alerts have to be justified following a series of pre-defined checks, and an alert cannot be sent unless all of these criteria are met:
- There is a serious potential danger related to a service activity or the conduct of a service provider
- The service activity is in scope of the Services Directive
- There is a danger of serious damage to the health and safety of persons or the environment
- There is a causal link between the service provision and the potential serious damage
- There is a real risk of serious damage occurring
- There is a risk that the potential damage will occur in other Member States
The Commission is still building the alert mechanism, and will publish some detailed guidance on the alert criteria and the circumstances for sending an alert by the end of the year. To ensure an alert case is valid, an alert form will also be published, which must be filled and sent to the National Liaison Point (NLP). The NLP will check all the fields have been completed and then forward the alert.
Further details and guidance will be circulated once the alert mechanism has been finalised. In the meantime, please contact sdimi@bis.gsi.gov.uk should you have any queries.
