Activites

• 1999/06/01 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 1999/38
  • OJ L 138 01.06.1999, p. 0066
• #2174
• 1999/04/29 Council Meeting
• 1999/04/29 End of procedure in Parliament
• 1999/04/29 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• 1999/04/13 Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading
  • T4-0233/1999 summary

    At second reading under assent procedure without debate, the European Parliament adopted the recommendation by Damião, which amends the Council common position in the following areas: - providing that the Commission should ensure that information on the proposed directive's provisions related to wood dusts is available in an easily understandable form, in order to help SMEs to prepare for the entry into force of those same provisions; - requiring that the European Parliament be informed about agreed international standards governing the measurement of exposure to substances covered by the proposed directive, proposals for changes to these standards and the results of research into new equipment, and particularly with regard to the work of the CEN-CENELEC in this area; - requiring Member States to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the proposed directive no later than three (rather than four) years after its adoption.�

• 1999/03/25 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
  • A4-0152/1999
• 1999/01/28 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• #2154
• 1998/12/22 Council Meeting
  • 13835/1/1998 summary

    The Council's common position retains the most crucial amendment adopted by the European Parliament which relates to the extension of the provisions of the proposal to all types of hard woods. It also retains two other amendments that seek to: - apply the same limit value (5.0 mg/m3) to mixtures of wood dusts; - revise limit values for vinyl chloride monomer and wood dusts within 2 years of the date of adoption of the Directive on the basis of the latest scientific data. The Council also decided to extend the implementation period to four years instead of the three years proposed by both the European Parliament and the Commission. In addition, the Council considered that, as it has not been proven that all mutagenic substances are necessarily carcinogenic, these substances should be taken up in the text in their own right and not simply included in Annex I of Directive 90/394/EEC as proposed by the Commission. It therefore added the necessary references in the text of the proposal and changed the title of the proposal.�

• #2145
• 1998/12/01 Council Meeting
• 1998/11/13 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(1998)0665 summary

    The Commission's amended proposal incorporates for the most part the European Parliament's amendments in particular with regard to : - the extension of the provisions to all types of hardwood; - the need to apply the same limit value where mixture of wood dusts are present; - the need to revise limit values for vinyl chloride monomer and wood dusts within two years of the date of the adoption of the Directive, on the basis of latest scientific data.�

• 1998/10/22 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0619/1998 summary

    Adopting the report by Mr Quinidio Correia (PES, P) on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work, Parliament considers it highly probable that dust from other types of hardwood can also cause cancer. The precautionary principle should therefore be applied to protect workers and consequently, the directive should cover dust from all types of hardwood. For this reason, Parliament proposes that the limit value of 5.0 mg/m3 advocated by the directive apply to all hardwood dusts (including mixtures of different hardwoods). Parliament calls for further research into the carcinogenic properties of other wood dusts. On the basis of scientific data, the Commission could present, within five years of this directive, a proposal to adopt revised limit values for vinyl chloride monomer and wood dust. The directive is to come into force within three years of its adoption. To safeguard employment, the provisions related to wood dusts will apply to existing places of work only after a transitional period. In order to avoid any misunderstanding as to the purpose of the directive, Parliament points out that implementation does not aim to restrict the processing of hardwoods by craft workers or the use of such materials or to replace them by other types of wood. The purpose is solely to provide effective protection for workers against the risks of developing cancer as a result of exposure to wood dust at work, as it is known that the risk of developing cancer is related to exposure of wood dust and not wood itself. �

• 1998/10/21 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1998/09/24 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0353/1998
• 1998/05/27 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1998/03/18 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(1998)0170 summary

    OBJECTIVE: to amend for the second time Directive 90/394/EEC to introduce new standards for the protection of workers against some carcinogens not already covered by the current directive. SUBSTANCE: The amendments concern the following aspects: - provision of appropriate standards of protection are provided against the risk from mutagenic substances not already covered by Directive 90/394/EEC but likely to show carcinogenic effects (category 1 and 2 substances from Annex VI of Directive 67/548/EEC), - measures to address the question of carcinogenicity of wood dusts (oak and beech) with a view to their inclusion in Directive 90/394/EEC and to clarify how the provisions of that directive could be applied to wood dusts (the Commission proposes in particular to set a limit value of 5 mg/m3 for exposure, as an appropriate indication of minimum standards for good technological practice, and provides for this standard to be reviewed within five years to align it with the most recent scientific data), - consolidation in Directive 90/394/EEC of the existing directives on carcinogens at the workplace, in particular vinyl chloride monomer (more specifically, to include in Directive 90/394/EEC the revised lower limit values from Directive 78/610/EEC, which will be reviewed within five years in the light of scientific progress; consequently, Directive 78/610/EEC will be repealed). However, the directive on asbestos (83/477/EEC) will not be incorporated into Directive 90/394/EEC owing to the specificity of this carcinogen. The Commission thus plans to delay the inclusion of the provisions of that directive in Directive 90/394/EEC. �

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(1998)0170
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A4-0353/1998
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0619/1998
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(1998)0665
• Council position published: 13835/1/1998
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A4-0152/1999
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T4-0233/1999
• : Directive 1999/38
• : OJ L 138 01.06.1999, p. 0066

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)