European trade unions and MEPs expressed their disappointment, on Wednesday 28 September, after the European Commission presented its revised Asbestos at Work Directive.
As reported by EUROPE on Monday 26 September (see EUROPE 13029/14), the Commission has retained an occupational exposure limit of 0.01 fibres/cm3, “ten times lower” than the current value in force, explained the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit.
In a resolution of October 2021, the European Parliament, but also the European trade unions, argued for a limit value of 0.001 fibres/cm3.
The limit of 0.01 fibres/cm3 was defended in the consultations prior to the directive by the employers’ interest group and the Commission considered, it explains in its text, that this exposure value of 0.01 fibres/cm3 was the most realistic in order not to increase the burden on companies, while at the same time allowing for reinforced protection of workers.
The Commission also presented a communication on the same day to prepare for an “asbestos-free future” while “220 million buildings built before the 2005 asbestos ban” could still contain the substance, the Commissioner added. In particular, it suggests strengthening early detection of asbestos-related diseases or cancer and support for victims of asbestos exposure.
The Commission will also prepare for 2023 a new legislative initiative on the detection and recording of asbestos in buildings to “know where it is”, with national asbestos removal strategies. It also committed on 28 September to revise the European protocol on the treatment of construction and demolition waste, updated in 2018, and the guidelines for waste audits prior to demolition and renovation of buildings.
For The Left MEP, Nikolaj Villumsen (Danish), author of the Parliament’s own-initiative report, “it is good that something is finally happening and that steps are being taken in the right direction”, but the revision remains “far too narrow”. “It is also strange that the Commission is proposing a limit that is still much, much too high”, he commented.
“The European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, has already stated that there is no level at which asbestos is safe. Setting such a high limit value means playing with the lives and health of construction workers and craftsmen”, added the Danish MEP, who recalled that the Danish limit for asbestos fibres is, since January 2022, 3,000 fibres per cubic metre (0.003/cm3), “i.e. one third” of the level proposed by the Commission.
S&D MEPs are also “disappointed”. “This is clearly a missed opportunity”, the group reacted in a statement.
“We have called for a rigorous review of the Asbestos Directive to ensure adequate protection against work-related cancers. This requires more stringent exposure limits set at 0.001 fibres/cm3 (1,000 fibres/m3)”, the group added. The Commission’s promises of a broader European strategy on asbestos protection beyond the workplace are nevertheless a “ray of hope”.
For the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), workers are still insufficiently protected by this proposal.
The Commission assumes that this limit “would not impose a disproportionate burden on businesses in the sectors concerned” whereas it estimates the cost to business of the safer limit proposed by the European Parliament and the trade unions at €100 billion.
“This one-off cost is, however, significantly less than the €40 billion that treating people with asbestos-related cancer costs Europe’s public health services each year”, the ETUC adds.
In 2019, occupational exposure to asbestos claimed more than 70,000 victims in the EU. It is estimated that between 4.1 and 7.3 million workers are currently exposed to asbestos, mostly in construction, roofing, plumbing and waste management industries.
Link to the proposals: https://aeur.eu/f/3ah (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)