A large majority of Member States supported the new mandate proposed by the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council to resume interinstitutional negotiations on the directive on the protection of workers from mutagens and carcinogens, at the meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives I on Wednesday 10 November.
According to the document obtained by EUROPE, the Slovenian Presidency suggested including reprotoxic substances in the title of the directive and, consequently, adding a definition on reprotoxic substances in the body of the directive itself.
In general, the Presidency asked for flexibility from the Parliament on this point, as reprotoxic substances have been a long-standing request (see EUROPE 11735/23).
Another important issue is exposure to hazardous medicinal products (HMPs). Here, the Presidency supports: - the publication of European guidelines to better protect exposed workers (the European Commission plans this for 2022 - see EUROPE 12750/2); - the introduction of a definition in the Directive; - the establishment of a list of substances. However, it rejects the inclusion of these dangerous medicines in the annex to the text.
Furthermore, the Presidency considers it “premature” to incorporate a “risk-based approach” for calculating exposure limits. As for the rest of the limit values, the Presidency wishes to maintain the current mandate.
The proposal received broad support. The issue of reprotoxic substances has reportedly been a problem for two Eastern European Member States. On the other hand, a dozen Member States have called for greater ambition.
The interinstitutional negotiations will resume late on Wednesday 17 November after a long period in abeyance, the last interinstitutional meeting having been held last May (see EUROPE 12732/24).
For the Slovenian Presidency’s proposed mandate: https://bit.ly/3cecIGV
To view the latest four-column table: https://bit.ly/3DnJX6D (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)