Transitional period to be extended for provisions on accessibility of emergency calls

Provisions on the answering of emergency communications made to the general emergency number and on the accessibility of the number were added to the Act on Emergency Response Centre Operations in 2023. The legislative amendments implemented the EU Directive on the accessibility requirements for products and services (European Accessibility Act). The amendments will enter into force on 28 June 2025.

With an accessible emergency number, emergency calls can be made and answered using real time speech or text. The answering of calls to the general emergency number and the accessibility of the number must be made compliant with the Act by the end of 2025.

Creating a system for real time text has proved to be slower than foreseen when the Act drawn up. For this reason, the Ministry of the Interior has set up a project to amend the transitional provision of the Act on Emergency Response Centre Operations. The project will extend the transitional period for legislative amendments to the two years allowed by the European Accessibility Act. The project will draw up a proposal according to which emergency calls should be able to handle real time text by 28 June 2027. The legislative amendment is expected to enter into force by December 2025 at the latest.

Callers can still make emergency calls by sending an emergency text message to the emergency number, but after 28 June 2025 they no longer have to register their phone number in order to use the text messaging service.

Inquiries:
Linda Viitala, Chief Specialist, tel. +358 295 488 299, Department for Rescue Services