Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-29-Speech-1-101"
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, may I start by thanking you for your kind words and welcome. It really is an immense honour and joy to be here in the European Parliament this evening. I am sorry that I did not have the opportunity to meet the members of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, but I shall meet them tomorrow, at the meeting we are to hold in the afternoon. I am especially glad that I shall have the opportunity in the future to work closely with the European Parliament and the relevant committees.
The report by Mr Pérez Álvarez was perfect and I must also thank him on behalf of the Commission because, on such a difficult technical issue as that in the proposal on physical agents, especially electromagnetic fields, he spoke so well and his report was truly exceptional. The difficulty with this issue is exacerbated by the fact that, although the amended proposal was submitted to the Council back in 1994, the first part of the proposal – on vibration – was only approved in 2002 and the second part – on noise – was only approved in 2003. Now we have the third part on electromagnetic fields at the level of second reading.
The Commission continues to attach the greatest importance to all measures which are designed to protect the health and safety of workers and which constitute an important factor in relation to the quality of life. The social agenda emphasised this issue, which was confirmed in the Commission communication on a new strategy for health and safety in the workplace. I am of the opinion that legislation on electromagnetic fields will be a fundamental step towards achieving better protection for the health and safety of workers exposed to risks from physical agents. The most recent scientific information available shows that overexposure to electromagnetic fields may have serious consequences on the health of workers and therefore merits special attention. The directive makes provision for precautions to protect the health and safety of workers, especially from induced electric currents in the body, shocks and burns and absorption of thermal energy produced by electromagnetic fields. It should be noted that it was not yet possible to examine the carcinogenic effect of electromagnetic fields, due to a lack of adequate scientific data or indication of a link of cause and effect between electromagnetic fields and cancer. For similar reasons, the directive does not set definitive values for exposure to static magnetic fields. Nonetheless, it should be noted that, within the framework of the Commission report on the practical application, the Commission will pay particular attention to these issues and will closely monitor developments in scientific data in these two sectors. If necessary, it will submit the necessary proposals at a later date.
I should like to congratulate the Members of Parliament on the quality of their amendments expressing Parliament’s concern and interest as regards the risks and results of exposure of workers to electromagnetic fields. It should be noted that the Commission, throughout the highly technical and very difficult legislative procedure, made intensive and, on occasion, persistent efforts to preserve a high level of protection in the text, while at the same time ensuring that a final compromise solution could be reached. It should be noted that, in order to achieve an overall compromise, the Commission accepted the Council common position, even though it had reservations about the watering down of the provisions on health surveillance. I am particularly pleased to see that one of your amendments, Amendment No 3, corrects this shortcoming in the common position and restores the preventive nature of health surveillance. As far as your amendments are concerned, the Commission can accept them as they stand, in that they improve the quality of the text and clarify its meaning.
Specifically, Amendment No 1 clarifies the procedure for assessing levels of exposure in accordance with the provisions of framework directive 89/391. Amendment No 2 improves the quality of the text, in that the content of the information which must be provided to workers is further supplemented. Amendment No 3 strengthens health surveillance in complete harmony with the Commission’s reservations on the common position. Amendment No 4 introduces a standardised provision governing sanctions, while Amendment No 5 stipulates the frequency of the Commission report, in keeping with the other health and safety directives.
There is no need for me to tell you that this report will evaluate scientific developments concerning the long-term effects of exposure to electromagnetic waves and the effects of static electromagnetic fields. At the same time, any further initiatives will be examined in the light of new scientific knowledge.
May I also remind you that the gradual approach taken to the examination of the Commission proposal, starting with vibration, followed by noise and now electromagnetic fields, does not obviate the need for further work to be undertaken on the remaining physical agent included in the Commission’s initial proposal, by which I mean optical radiation."@en1
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