The inter-institutional negotiations on the second revision of the directive on the protection of workers to exposure from carcinogens and mutagens at work have been postponed to September under the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
As expected, the European Parliament and Council are clashing on the question of diesel vapour limit values (0.05 mg/m3) (see EUROPE 11990), introduced by MEPs, while the initial European Commission proposal said nothing about the issue.
The Council had proposed introducing a revision clause or the mention of an introduction for diesel vapour but without indicating a limit value in Annex I of the directive, which introduces the obligations applying to employers. Parliament has made the inclusion of diesel vapour a red line in the negotiations and rejected this suggestion.
Parliament would be prepared to demonstrate greater flexibility on the limit value level, transition period and a longer transition period for mining and tunnelling.
According to one European source, Parliament is also considering concessions on nitric oxide. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)