Brussels, 24/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 April, the EU Council decided to once more allow more time for transposition of Directive 2004/4/EC concerning minimum health and safety provisions on worker exposure to risks caused by physical agents (electromagnetic fields). The new deadline is now 31 October 2013.
In agreement with the European Parliament, the Council thus proposes that “the new deadline for transposition would allow for more time to discuss in depth the Commission proposal for a new directive on electromagnetic fields from 2011 which should repeal Directive 2004/40”. Although the Commission had itself called for the initial directive not to be transposed, due to the polemic surrounding magnetic resonance imaging technology (MRI), neither does the new deadline set today correspond to its preferred option. It had, in fact, called for a further 24 months but it was finally decided to move the deadline on by 18 months.
In order to justify its decision, the Council states that the main obstacle to transposing the 2004 directive is the fact that “the medical community working with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) claimed that its activities would be hampered by the strict exposure limit values laid down therein”. Debates surrounding the new directive should thus mainly concern this sector but also that linked to military activity, by proposing exemptions in the system of limit and reference values. Such values are established in order to allow European norms to be established to protect worker health and safety, when workers are employed in an environment subject to electromagnetic fields. (JK/transl.jl)