Brussels, 12/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - European trade unions have been unable to contain their joy. In a press release on Thursday 12 May, they welcomed the Commission's intention to announce, the following day, binding occupational exposure limits for 13 cancer-causing substances.
For a long time, the Commission has sought to revise the annexes to directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers against exposure risks to carcinogenic agents or mutagens at work, as illustrated in the roadmap published in 2011. It finally decided to proceed in two phases to amend the list of dangerous substances for which exposure limits are necessary: it will present the first amendment on Friday 13 May, which will include limits on 13 substances for which there is already sufficient information and the second amendment is planned for the end of the year for substances that still require further examination.
The trade unions believe this is a step in the right direction. Esther Lynch, ETUC Confederal Secretary, said "Although some of the exposure limits are inadequate, and some substances are not included, this is a significant step forward. After 12 years of inaction the European Commission has finally listened to demands to protect workers better from work-related cancer". She is hoping, however, that the Commission is not going to stop at such an opportune time. According to Ms Lynch, the ETUC has identified a list of more than 70 carcinogenic or mutagenic agents which workers should be protected against.
In a reply to a question put to it by EUROPE, the private employers' federation, BusinessEurope, indicated that it was hoping that the proposal be based on scientific proof and that it was realistic. The organisation has already criticised the inclusion of crystalline silicon and the two-phase action trajectory chosen by the Commission, which it does not believe is in line with smart regulation. Rebekah Smith, the main adviser for social affairs at BusinessEurope particularly hopes that the co-legislators do not use this occasion to reopen certain provisions in the 2004/37/EC directive. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)