Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by congratulating the Commission and also the rapporteur, not only the quality of his work, but also on his attitude towards the amendments presented. While social dialogue is to be a effective instrument in the fight against the scourge of work accidents, political dialogue, with the intergroups, has led to the improvement of a report which was excellent from the outset. I have heard it said on occasions that reality is obstinate and we cannot express our opinion on numbers. But we can express our opinion on the circumstances in which things take place and the circumstances they reflect. And the reality in the European Union in terms of health in the workplace, without wanting to be alarmist, is that in 1999 there were 5 500 accidents resulting in fatalities, 4.8 million accidents leading to more than 3 days of inability to work, 500 million working days lost as a result of accidents or health problems, compensation payments and, what is more serious, almost 350 000 people had to change job or their place of work – around 300 000 with some degree of disability – and 15 000 will never be able to take on a new job. Furthermore, there has been a certain worrying rise in the number of accidents in certain Member States of the Union and, in view of enlargement, there is enormous concern about the situation of the States which are candidates for – not future, but imminent – accession with average work accident rates which are above the Community average, although this can be explained, it is true, from different angles, including the importance of higher-risk sectors of activity in those countries. Commissioner, surely we are dealing with the poorest relation of enlargement. The European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights states in Article 31(1) that every worker has the right to work in conditions which respect his or her health, safety and dignity. The Lisbon Summit – and the Barcelona Summit reiterated this – set as one of its objectives the creation of more and better jobs – and that of better ones must be applied not only to the fight against precariousness, but also to safer jobs and workplaces. I therefore believe that the triple aspects of the strategy are correct; the global approach ranging from professional qualifications to the working day, from demographic trends, the general development of economic activity to that of the working population, the notion that safe and healthy working environments and organisations are factors which affect the performance of the economy in general and of companies in particular and, above all, the culture of risk prevention. Given the risk inherent in work by definition, constant and insistent action is required. It will be necessary to use all the means allowed by the so-called social acquis, from the framework Directive to the rules laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Protection is therefore going to require joint action by the whole of society, as has already been said: employers, workers, public administrations, citizens. A genuine joint action. But without increasing awareness, without training of workers and the people responsible for health, without horizontal prevention policies, without a culture of prevention – as the Commissioner said – and without sufficient information, decisions on the content of regulations will be of little use. Simplification will be welcome when the time comes and when it is possible, but it will be insufficient without increasing awareness. In the face of this risk, I would go as far to say that action is not sufficient, but that what we need is obstinacy. The culture of prevention must be insistent, to the point of boredom. There must be new standards when necessary, more material and human resources, specific actions in sectors and companies with greater than average accident levels, monitoring of the different plans and exchange of best practices and the avoidance of new risks. The health, safety and dignity of the European citizens is at stake.

Political group: PPE-DE