Ever tightening regulations have reduced the threat of chemical spill and improved emergency planning. We look back at the events that shaped them, such as the Seveso disaster.

Flashback: The menace of toxic spill

How much are we protected  from toxic spill?

What's changed for Europeans since  the chemical disasters at Seveso and Ajka?

a result partly of the EU’s Seveso Directive.

Seveso, after the village  hit by a chemical spill in 1976.

Europe-wide regulations were introduced  and have been tightened twice since.

Toxic spill is the silent killer  that strikes fear in communities

living in the shadow of chemicals plants.

It was a Saturday  and production had finished.

This overheating  caused the reactor to explode.

A massive cloud of dioxins was released  in the northern Italian village of Seveso.

The accident was actually  kept secret for ten days

like leaves falling from the trees,  farmyard animals dying

and skin problems,  especially for children.

Thousands of animals  but no humans perished.

A delegation from the EP  visited the scene.

Six years later  the Seveso I Directive was born,

tightening controls  on chemicals production.

Chemicals are a multi-billion euro  export industry for EU companies.

but they’re volatile, produced often  in high-temperature reactions.

If the mix combusts, the explosive force  can reach more than 1,000kph.

In 2010 at least nine people were killed

when a wave of caustic sludge  breached its reservoir

The President, János Áder, then an MEP,  gave an address to Parliament at the time.

But if you look also at what's happened  over the past ten years

it reminds us that industrial accidents  can happen at any time and anywhere.

Nevertheless, this disaster draws  our attention to the fact that the Union -

and let's be clear about that - has no tools  to handle these kinds of situations.

Mr Áder initiated the upgrade to Seveso  and handed the baton to colleagues

trying to put citizens’ safety first  in the industry’s planning.

Normally the Seveso Directive  should prevent the accident

and quantify  the chemicals substances there,

Then inspections have to be made.  There was a whole discussion on that.

We wanted at least two inspections a year  on very toxic substances.

But at the heart of Seveso III  are new obligations

on companies  using or producing chemicals

to inform the public on emergency planning  in the case of accidents.

It's very important  that we limit the risks

and that people are informed  about the risks

and, above all, about what they should do  in case of an accident.

The problem is that the companies  often don't want to inform people.

But although it increases the number of  substances classed as dangerous,

some MEPs believe  it doesn’t go far enough.

We wanted to include industrial activities  that are not included at the moment,

for example offshore drilling that can cause  huge damage to the environment,

In Italy, there’s dissatisfaction at some  companies' post-Seveso safety checks.

They do it formally.  They sit in an office and do an audit.

On the ground, many applaud  the tightening of controls

but argue there are weak links  in the chain of implementation:

local administrations under  commercial pressure from companies

companies under pressure  to turn over profit.

The problem is  overcoming the obstacles

that often stem from  the reluctance of local authorities

to inform the population  about dangerous situations.