1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No2062/94
of18July1994
establishingaEuropeanAgencyforSafetyandHealthatWork
(OJ L 216, 20.8.1994, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EC) No 1643/95 of 29 June 1995 L 156 1 7.7.1995
►M2Council Regulation (EC) No 1654/2003 of 18 June 2003 L 245 38 29.9.2003
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COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No2062/94
of18July1994
establishingaEuropeanAgencyforSafetyandHealthatWork
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and
in particular Article 235 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Whereass afety, hygiene and health at work are among the prioritiesof
an effective social policy;
Whereas the Commission has described the measures which it intends
to take in thisarea in itsprogramme concerning s afety, hygiene andhealth at work (
4), and in itsaction programme concerning the imple-
mentation of the Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights
for Workers;
Whereas, in its Resolution of 21 December 1987 on safety, hygiene
and health at work (5), the Council welcomed the Commission commu-
nication on itsprogramme concerning s afety, hygiene and health atwork and, inter alia , called on the Commission to examine ways of
improving the exchange of information and experience in the field
covered by the Resolution, particularly as regards the gathering anddissemination of data and the advisability of setting up Communitymachinery to study the repercussions at national level of Communitymeasures in this field;
Whereas that Resolution also called for intensified cooperation with
and between bodiesactive in thisfield;
Whereas the Council also stressed the fundamental importance of
employers and workers being aware of the issues involved and havingaccess to information if the measures advocated in the Commission's
programme were to prove successful;
Whereascollection, treatment and analys isof detailed, reliable and
objective scientific, technical and economic data are necessary in orderto provide the Community bodies, the Member States and thoseinvolved in the field with the information to enable them to respond
to all the requests addressed to them, to introduce essential measures
for the protection of the health and safety of workers and to providethe persons concerned with adequate information;
Whereasthere are already organizationsin the Community and the
Member States which provide this type of information and services;
Whereas, in order to obtain the maximum benefit at Community level
from work already carried out by these organizations, it is appropriateto establish a network to form a European monitoring system forcollecting information on health and safety at work, to be coordinatedat Community level by a European Agency for Safety and Health atWork;
Whereas, in order to be able to respond more effectively to requests
addressed to them, Community bodies, the Member States and thoseinvolved in the field should be able to have recourse to an Agency inorder to obtain technical, scientific and economic data of use in thefield of health and safety at work;1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 271, 16. 10. 1991, p. 3.
(2) OJ No C 128, 9. 5. 1994.
(3) OJ No C 169, 6. 7. 1992, p. 44.
(4) OJ No C 28, 3. 2. 1988, p. 3.
(5) OJ No C 28, 3. 2. 1988, p. 1.
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Whereas it is therefore appropriate to establish a European Agency for
Safety and Health at Work responsible for assisting, inter alia , the
Commission in carrying out tasks in the field of safety and health at
work and, in that context, for contributing to the development of future
Community action programmesrelating to the protection of s afety andhealth at work, without prejudice to the Commission's sphere ofcompetence;
Whereasthe Decis ion taken by common agreement between the Repre-
sentatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting at Head
of State and Government level on 29 October 1993, on the location of
the seats of certain bodies and departments of the European Commu-nitiesand of Europol (
1) stipulated that the Agency for Health and
Safety at Work wasto have itss eat in Spain, in a town to be deter-mined by the Spanish Government; whereas the Spanish Governmenthas designated the city of Bilbao for that purpose;
Whereas the rules and structure of the Agency must be geared towards
the objective nature of the results desired and should be such that it can
carry out itswork in cooperation with exis ting national Community andinternational bodies;
Whereas the Agency must be able to invite as observers representatives
of third countries, of Community institutions and bodies and of interna-tional organizations which share the interests of the Community and
the Member Statesin the aim of the Agency;
Whereas the Agency should have legal personality while maintaining
close links with existing Community bodies and programmes, in parti-cular with the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living andWorking Conditions, in order to avoid any duplication;
Whereasit isimportant that the Agency have very clos e functional
links with the Commission and the Advisory Committee on Safety,Hygiene and Health Protection at Work;
Whereas, with regard to its translations, the Agency will use the Trans-
lation Centre for the bodiesof the European Union once the Centre
becomesoperational;
Whereasthe general budget of the European Communitiess hould
contribute to the operation of the Agency; whereasthe amountsdeemed necessary are to be laid down under the annual budget proce-dure, in accordance with the financial estimates;
Whereas, for the adoption of this Regulation, the Treaty does not
provide for powersother than thos e referred to in Article 235,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
EstablishmentoftheAgency
A European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, hereinafter referred
to as the ‘Agency’, is hereby established.
Article 2
Objective
In order to encourage improvements, especially in the working environ-
ment, asregardsthe protection of the s afety and health of workersas
provided for in the Treaty and successive action programmesconcerning health and safety at the workplace, the aim of the Agencyshall be to provide the Community bodies, the Member States andthose involved in the field with the technical, scientific and economicinformation of use in the field of safety and health at work.1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 3
(1) OJ No C 323, 30. 11. 1993, p. 1.
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Article 3
Role
1. For the purpose of achieving the aim described in Article 2, the
Agency'srole s hall be to:
(a) collect and disseminate technical, scientific and economic informa-
tion in the Member Statesin order to pas sit on to the Communitybodies, Member States and interested parties; this collection shalltake place to identify existing national priorities and programmesand provide the necessary input to the priorities and programmesof the Community;
(b) collect technical, scientific and economic information on research
into safety and health at work and on other research activities
which involve aspects connected with safety and health at work
and disseminate the results of the research and research activities;
(c) promote and support cooperation and exchange of information and
experience amongst the Member States in the field of safety andhealth at work, including information on training programmes;
(d) organize conferencesand s eminarsand exchangesof expertsfrom
the Member Statesin the field of s afety and health at work;
(e) supply the Community bodies and the Member States with the
objective available technical, scientific and economic informationthey require to formulate and implement judiciousand effectivepolicies designed to protect the safety and health of workers; to
that end, provide the Commission in particular with the technical,
scientific and economic information it requires to fulfil its tasks ofidentifying, preparing and evaluating legislation and measures inthe area of the protection of the safety and health of workers,notably as regards the impact of legislation on enterprises, withparticular reference to small and medium-sized enterprises;
(f) establish, in cooperation with the Member States, and coordinate
the network referred to in Article 4, taking into account the
national, Community and international bodiesand organizations
which provide this type of information and services;
(g) collect and make available information on safety and health matters
from and to third countriesand international organizations(WHO,ILO, PAHO, IMO, etc.);
(h) provide technical, scientific and economic information on methods
and toolsfor implementing preventive activities , paying particularattention to the specific problems of small and medium-sized enter-prises;
(i) contribute to the development of future Community action
programmesrelating to the protection of s afety and health atwork, without prejudice to the Commission's sphere of competence.
2. The Agency shall work as closely as possible with the existing
institutions, foundations, specialist bodies and programmes at Commu-nity level in order to avoid any duplication.
Article 4
Network
1. The Agency shall set up a network comprising:
— the main component elementsof the national information networks ;
— the national focal points;— any future topic centres.
2. To enable the network to be s et up asrapidly and asefficiently as
possible, the Member States shall, within six months of the entry intoforce►
M1of Regulation (EC) No 1643/95 ◄, inform the Agency of
the main component elementsof their national health and s afety atwork information networks, including any institution which in theirjudgment could contribute to the work of the Agency, taking into1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 4
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account the need to ensure the fullest possible geographical coverage of
their territory.
The competent national authorities or an institution designated by them
shall coordinate and/or transmit the information to be supplied atnational level to the Agency.
3. The national authoritiess hall inform the Agency of the namesof
institutions established in their national territory which are able tocooperate with it on certain topicsof particular interes t and thusto act
astopic centresof the network. The Agency s hall have the power to
conclude agreements with such institutions.
4. Topic centres for special tasks may form part of the network.They shall be designated by the Administrative Board referred to in
Article 8 for a limited and agreed period of time.
5. Topics of particular interest identified as well as the specific tasks
of the topic centres shall be listed in the Agency's annual workprogramme.
6. In the light of experience gained, the Agency shall periodically
re-examine the main component elementsof the network asreferred
to in paragraph 2 and shall make such changes as may be decided on
by the Administrative Board, taking account of any new designationsmade by the Member States.
Article 5
Arrangements
1. In order to facilitate the operation of the network referred to in
Article 4, the Agency may agree with the institutions designated by
the Administrative Board pursuant to Article 4(4) upon the necessaryarrangements, in particular contracts, for successfully carrying out thetasks which it may entrust to them.
2. Member Statesmay provide, asregardsthe national ins titutionsor
organizations established in its territory, that such arrangements with
the Agency shall be made in agreement with the national focal point.
Article 6
Accesstodocuments
1. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to EuropeanParliament, Council and Commission documents (
1) shall apply to
documentsheld by the Agency.
2. The Administrative Board shall adopt the protocol arrangements
for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 within six months of
entry into force of Conncil Regulation No 1654/2003 of 18 June 2003amending Regulation (EC) No 2062/94 establishing a EuropeanAgency for Safety and Health at Work (
2).
3. Decisions taken by the Agency pursuant to Article 8 of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1049/2001 may form the subject of a complaint to the
Ombudsman or of an action before the Court of Justice, under theconditionslaid down in Articles195 and 230 of the Treaty res pec-tively.
Article 7
Legalpersonality
1. The Agency shall have legal personality.1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 5
(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
(2) OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 38.▼M2
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2. It shall enjoy in all the Member States the most extensive legal
capacity accorded to legal persons under their laws.
Article 8
AdministrativeBoard
1. The Agency shall have an Administrative Board consisting of 48
members, of whom:
(a) fifteen members shall represent the governments of the Member
States;
(b) fifteen members shall represent the employers' organizations;
(c) fifteen members shall represent the employees' organizations;
(d) three members shall represent the Commission.
2. The membersreferred to in paragraph 1 (a), (b) and (c) s hall be
appointed by the Council on the basis of one member of each Member
State and for each of the abovementioned categories.
The membersreferred to in paragraph 1 (b) and (c) s hall be appointed,
on the basis of one for each Member State and for each of the cate-goriesconcerned, from the membersand alternate membersrepresenting the employers' and employees' organizations on the Advi-sory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work setup by Decision 74/325/EEC (
1), on a proposal from the groups of those
membersand alternate memberson the Committee.
The Council shall at the same time appoint under the same conditions
asfor the member an alternate member to attend meetingsof the
Administrative Board only in the absence of the member or as laid
down in the rulesof procedure.
The Commission shall appoint the members and alternate members
who are to represent it.
3. The term of office of members of the Administrative Board shall
be three years. It shall be renewable.
Upon expiry of their term of office or in the event of their resignation,
memberss hall remain in office until their appointmentsare renewed or
until they are replaced.
4. The Administrative Board shall elect its chairman and three vice-
chairman from among its members, to serve for a period of one year.
5. The chairman shall convene the Administrative Board twice a
year and at the request of at least half of its members.
6. Decisions by the Administrative Board shall be taken by a
majority of two thirdsof the votes .
The membersreferred to in paragraph 1 (a) s hall have two voteseach.The membersreferred to in paragraph 1 (b), (c) and (d) s hall have one
vote each.
Alternate members shall not have the right to vote unless the full
member isabs ent.
7. The chairman of the Administrative Board and Director of the
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and WorkingConditions shall have the option of attending meetings of the Adminis-trative Board as observers.
8. The Administrative Board shall adopt its rules of procedure,
which shall enter into force after being approved by the Council,following an opinion given by the Commission.1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 6
(1) OJ No L 185, 9. 7. 1974, p. 15.▼M1
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Article 9
Observers
The Administrative Board may, after consulting the Commission, invite
representatives of non-member countries, of Community institutions
and bodies and of international organizations as observers.
Article 10
Annualworkprogramme—Annualgeneral report
1. The Administrative Board shall adopt the Agency's annual work
programme on the basis of a draft drawn up by the Director referred
to in Article 11, after consultation of the Commission and of the Advi-sory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work.
The programme may be adapted during the year using the same proce-
dure.
The programme shall be adopted in accordance with the foregoing
procedure and shall form part of a four-year rolling programme.
The first annual work programme must be adopted within nine months
of entry into force ►
M1of Regulation (EC) No 1643/95 ◄.
2. The Administrative Board shall adopt the annual report on the
Agency'sactivitiesand forward it by 15 June at the lates t to theEuropean Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the EuropeanEconomic and Social Committee, the Court of Auditors, the MemberStatesand the Advis ory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health
Protection at Work.
3. The Agency shall forward annually to the budgetary authority any
information relevant to the outcome of the evaluation procedures.
Article 11
TheDirector
1. The Agency shall be headed by a Director appointed by the
Administrative Board on a proposal from the Commission for a periodof five years, which shall be renewable.
2. The Director shall be the official representative of the Agency.He shall be responsible for:— the proper preparation and execution of the decisions and
programmesadopted by the Adminis trative Board,
— the day-to-day administration of the Agency,— the preparation and publication of the report referred to in Article
10(2),
— the performance of the tasks prescribed,— all staff matters,— the preparation of Administrative Board meetings.
3. The Director shall be accountable to the Administrative Board for
hisactivities .
Article 12
Budget
1. Estimates shall be drawn up of all the Agency's revenue and
expenditure for each financial year, which shall correspond to thecalendar year, and shall be entered in the Agency's budget.
2. The revenue and expenditure shown in the budget shall be in
balance.
3. The revenue of the Agency shall, without prejudice to other
resources obtained from payments for services rendered by the Agency,1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 7
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consist of a subsidy from the Community entered in the general budget
of the European Communities.
4. The expenditure of the Agency shall include, inter alia , staff
remuneration, administrative and infrastructure expenses, operating
costs and expenditure relating to contracts concluded with institutionsor bodiesin implementation of the work programme.
Article 13
Draftestimate—Adoptionofthebudget
1. Each year the Administrative Board, on the basis of a draft drawn
up by the Director, shall produce an estimate of revenue and expendi-
ture for the Agency for the following financial year. Thises timate,which shall include a draft establishment plan, shall be forwarded bythe Administrative Board to the Commission by 31 March at the latest.
2. The estimate shall be forwarded by the Commission to the
European Parliament and to the Council (hereinafter referred to asthe
‘budgetary authority’) together with the preliminary draft general
budget of the European Union.
3. On the basis of the estimate, the Commission shall enter in the
preliminary draft general budget of the European Union the estimatesit deems necessary for the establishment plan and the amount of thesubsidy to be charged to the general budget, which it shall place before
the budgetary authority in accordance with Article 272 of the Treaty.
4. The budgetary authority shall authorise the appropriations for the
subsidy to the Agency.
The budgetary authority shall adopt the establishment plan for the
Agency.
5. The budget of the Agency shall be adopted by the Administrative
Board. It shall become final following final adoption of the general
budget of the European Union. Where appropriate, it shall be adjusted
accordingly.
6. The Administrative Board shall, as soon as possible, notify the
budgetary authority of itsintention to implement any project whichmay have significant financial implications for the funding of itsbudget, in particular any projectsrelating to property s uch asthe rental
or purchase of buildings. It shall inform the Commission thereof.
Where a branch of the budget authority hasnotified itsintention to
deliver an opinion, it shall forward its opinion to the AdministrativeBoard within a period of six weeks from the date of notification ofthe project.
Article 14
Implementationofthebudget
1. The Director shall implement the budget of the Agency.2. By 1 March at the latest following each financial year, the
Agency's accounting officer shall communicate the provisional
accountsto the Commis s ion'saccounting officer together with a reporton the budgetary and financial management for that financial year. TheCommission's accounting officer shall consolidate the provisionalaccounts of the institutions and decentralised bodies in accordancewith Article 128 of the general Financial Regulation.
3. By 31 March at the latest following each financial year, the
Commission's accounting officer shall forward the Agency's provisionalaccountsto the Court of Auditors , together with a report on thebudgetary and financial management for that financial year. The reporton the budgetary and financial management for the financial year shallalso be forwarded to the European Parliament and to the Council.1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 8
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4. On receipt of the Court of Auditors' observations on the Agency's
provisional accounts, pursuant to Article 129 of the general FinancialRegulation, the Director shall draw up the Agency's final accounts
under his own responsibility and submit them to the Administrative
Board for an opinion.
5. The Administrative Board shall deliver an opinion on the
Agency'sfinal accounts .
6. The Director shall, by 1 July at the latest following each financial
year, forward the final accountsto the European Parliament, theCouncil, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, together with theAdministrative Board's opinion.
7. The final accounts shall be published.8. The Director shall send the Court of Auditors a reply to its obser-
vations by 30 September at the latest. He shall also send this reply tothe Administrative Board.
9. The Director shall submit to the European Parliament, at the
latter's request, any information required for the smooth application of
the discharge procedure for the financial year in question, as laid down
in Article 146(3) of the general Financial Regulation.
10. The European Parliament, on a recommendation from the
Council acting by a qualified majority, shall, before 30 April of yearN + 2, give a discharge to the Director in respect of the implementationof the budget for year N.
Article 15
Financialregulation
The financial rulesapplicable to the Agency s hall be adopted by the
Administrative Board after the Commission has been consulted. Theymay not depart from Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation forthe bodiesreferred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC,Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the
general budget of the European Communities(
1) unless specifically
required for the Agency's operation and with the Commission's priorconsent.
Article 16
ProfessionalSecrecy
Members of the Administrative Board, the Director, the staff and all
other persons participating in the activities of the Agency shall be
required, even after their duties have ceased, not to disclose informa-tion of the kind covered by the obligation of professional secrecy.
Article 17
Languagearrangements
The language arrangements of the institutions of the Community shall
apply to the Agency.
Article 18
Translationservices
The translation services needed for the operation of the Agency shall
be provided by the translation centre for the bodies of the Union oncethat centre becomesoperational.1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 9
(1) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72, with Corrigendum in OJ L 2, 7.1.2003, p. 39.▼B
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Article 19
Privileges andimmunities
The Protocol on the Privilegesand Immunitiesof the European
Communitiess hall apply to the Agency.
Article 20
Staff
1. The staff of the Agency shall be subject to the Rules and Regula-
tionsapplicable to officialsand other s ervantsof the EuropeanCommunities.
2. The Agency shall exercise in respect of its staff the powers
devolved to the Appointing Authority.
3. The Administrative Board shall, in agreement with the Commis-
sion, adopt the appropriate implementing rules.
Article 21
Liability
1. The Agency'scontractual liability s hall be governed by the law
applicable to the contract in question.
The Court of Justice of the European Communities shall have jurisdic-
tion to give judgment pursuant to an arbitration clause contained in acontract concluded by the Agency.
2. In the case of non-contractual liability, the Agency shall, in
accordance with the general principlescommon to the lawsof the
Member States, make good any damage caused by the Agency or itsservants in the performance of their duties.
The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to
compensation for any such damage.
3. The personal liability of servants towards the Agency shall be
governed by the provisions applying to the staff of the Agency.
Article 22
Examinationoflegality
Member States, members of the Administrative Board and third parties
directly and personally involved may refer to the Commission any actof the Agency, whether express or implied, for the Commission to
examine the legality of that act.
Referral shall be made to the Commission within fifteen days of the
day on which the party concerned first became aware of the act inquestion.
The Commission shall take a decision within one month. If no decision
has been taken within this period, the case shall be deemed to have
been dismissed.
Article 23
Reviewclause
No later than five yearsafter the entry into force of thisRegulation, on
the basis of a Commission report, accompanied as appropriate by a
proposal, the Council, having consulted the European Parliament, shall
review this Regulation and any new assignment for the Agency thatproves necessary.
Article 24
Entryintoforce oftheRegulation
ThisRegulation s hall enter into force on the 20th day following that of
itspublication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 10
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ThisRegulation s hall be binding in itsentirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 11
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Statement by Council and the Commission concerning the seat of the
EuropeanAgencyforSafetyandHealthatWork
On the occasion of the adoption of the Regulation establishing a European
Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the Council and the Commission note
that:
— the Representatives of the Member States, meeting at Head of State and
Government level on 29 October 1993, decided that the European Agency
for Safety and Health at Work wasto have it s eat in Spain, in a town to be
determined by the Spanish Government;
— the Spanish Government has designated Bilbao as the seat of the Agency.1994R2062 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 002.001 — 12