10/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a judgment delivered on 5 June, the Court of Justice of the European Communities ruled that French transposition of Council directive 89/391/EEC, on improving workers' health and safety in the workplace, had been insufficient (case C-226/06). The Court stated that giving the RATP the possibility of exemption from the legislation was against the directive, even if this possibility had never been taken up. Moreover, French legislation has not transposed the requirement on the employer to draw up a list of serious accidents. In addition, some categories of employer, such as small companies and the mining sector, fall outside the scope of some of the directive's arrangements, something, the Court says, that is also incompatible. These failings were noted from 1 September 2002, when the deadline for transposing the directive was 31 December 1992. The French authorities say that work is on-going at the Ministry of Labour and that a draft Decree is being drawn up. If the necessary amendments are put in place in the next few months, no further action is expected. (G.B./transl rt)