Activites

• 2003/04/15 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 2003/18
  • OJ L 097 15.04.2003, p. 0048-0052
• 2003/03/27 Final act signed
• 2003/03/27 End of procedure in Parliament
• #2485
• 2003/02/18 Council Meeting
• 2002/12/17 Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading
  • T5-0609/2002 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the report by Elisa DAMIAO (PES, Portugal) on the Council's common position. (Please refer to the document dated 26/11/02.)�

• 2002/12/16 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2002/11/26 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
  • A5-0404/2002
• 2002/10/11 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• #2448
• 2002/09/23 Council Meeting
  • 09635/1/2002 summary

    The Council was not able to accept all the amendments of the European Parliament which had been taken up by the Commission in its amended proposal. Nevertheless, the Council considers that, on the whole, the text of the common position meets the fundamental objectives of the Commission's proposal and those that the European Parliament had in mind when proposing its amendments. The Council would also like to point out that, in one important respect, namely the prohibition of the vast majority of activities which could lead to workers being exposed to asbestos fibres, the text of the common position goes further than that of the Commission's original proposal. By considerably reinforcing the text of Directive 83/477/EEC, the common position improves substantially the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos. More specifically, as regards the new provisions introduced by the Council, and the Commission's position : - the common position provides for a ban on activities which expose workers to asbestos fibres during the extraction of asbestos, the manufacture and processing of asbestos products, or the manufacture and processing of products containing deliberately added asbestos, with the exception of the treatment and landfill of products resulting from demolition and asbestos removal; - the common position also reformulates the criteria laid down in Article 1(3) for the possible non-application of Articles 4, 15 and 16 of the Directive in the case of sporadic and limited exposure. The Commission has accepted this reformulation, as it considers that the criteria laid down by the common position on this subject are appropriate and do not imply any reduction in the level of protection of workers. Two draft statement have to be entered in the Council's minutes. The first is a statement by Denmark supported by Belgium, Germany and Greece as regards Article 5(2) (Diretcive 83/477/EC) : Denmark, supported by Belgium, Germany and Greece, having taken note of the opinion of the Council Legal Service that a total ban on activities exposing workers to asbestos cannot be achieved within the framework of this Directive, urges the Commission to prepare as soon as possible a proposal for such a total ban using the appropriate legal basis in the context of the Internal Market. The second is in response to the Council's statement, the Commission highlights that while sharing the Council's objective, it would have preferred to await the opinion of the Scientific Committee on Toxicology, Ecotoxicology and the Environment that is at present examining the latest scientific evidence relating to chrysotile (white asbestos).�

• #2431
• 2002/06/03 Council Meeting
• 2002/05/16 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(2002)0254 summary

    Out of the 37 amendments submitted by the European Parliament, the Commission accepted in full 9, and partially 3. It rejected 25 amendments. Amongst those accepted were the following: -prevention of asbestos release outside the workplace as well as inside; -provisions requiring more detailed information about asbestos risks as well as those adding medical examination frequency and health assessment information requirements; -information to be provided about the undertaking and the worker contracted to carry out activities involving asbestos; -appropriate breaks during the use of individual respiratory protective equipment; -the use of alternative measuring methods for the fibre counting of asbestos; -the addition of local authorities, civil protection services, and other authorities, bodies or individuals to the owners in order to provide information to identify presumed asbestos-containing materials. Amongst the amendments rejected was the expression of limit values as a time weighted average in a period of 4 hours instead of 8 hours. This was rejected because it would create confusion when compared to the same values in international standards which use a reference period of 8 hours.�

  • DG [{'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/social/', 'title': 'Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion'}],
• 2002/04/11 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T5-0176/2002 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by its rapporteur Elisa Maria DAMIAO (PES, Portugal) on better protection for workers from asbestos exposure. (Please refer to the document dated 19/03/02). The amendments to the resolution also reflect Parliament's concern that the Commission does not have sufficient human resources to meet the needs of technical scientific updating, assessment of whether legislation is enforced and exchange of good practices among Member States, for example in connection with the activities of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. It went on to point out that enlargement increases the need to deal effectively with asbestos exposure. Asbestos was more widely used in Central and Eastern Europe than in the existing Member States and can be found in high concentrations. In many cases it requires a more systematic programme of removal than that laid down for the current Member States.�

• 2002/04/10 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2002/03/19 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0091/2002
• #2415
• 2002/03/07 Council Meeting
  • 2415
• #2392
• 2001/12/03 Council Meeting
  • 2392
• #2373
• 2001/10/08 Council Meeting
  • 2373
• 2001/09/03 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2001/07/20 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2001)0417 summary

    PURPOSE: to present a Commission proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 83/477/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work. CONTENT: The main aspects of the proposal for amending Directive 83/477/EEC are the following: 1) Scope: sea and air transport should no longer be excluded from the scope of the Directive, in order to ensure that all workers have the same level of protection. 2) Definition of the various types of fibrous silicates: they have been re-defined either in mineralogocal terms or with regards to their Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) number. 3) Simplification in the event of limited exposure: it is proposed to replace the action level in the original Directive with particular work situations which suggest that exposure of workers is insignificant in respect to the exposure limit value proposed. Other proposed changes relate to, inter alia, measuring asbestos content in air; exposure limit values for workers; determining the presence of asbestos in buildings; company responsibility and practical recommendation for health examination of workers.�

  • DG [{'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/social/', 'title': 'Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion'}],

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2001)0417
• Debate in Council: 2373
• Debate in Council: 2392
• Debate in Council: 2415
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A5-0091/2002
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0176/2002
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(2002)0254
• Council position published: 09635/1/2002
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A5-0404/2002
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T5-0609/2002
• : Directive 2003/18
• : OJ L 097 15.04.2003, p. 0048-0052

History

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