Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION setting up an Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. BACKGROUND AND AIMS

1. Article 137 of the Treaty provides the legal basis for Community action on health and safety at work, which is now one of the most important and highly developed areas of the Union's social policy.

Improving workers' safety and health of has been one of Community policy's abiding concerns since as long ago as 1952 under the auspices of the European Coal and Steel Community. With the advent of the Treaty of Rome, this concern was extended to all sectors of employment.

However, it was from the end of the '70s that increasing awareness of the importance of this policy area resulted in a coherent body of legislation being drafted, culminating in the Council's adoption of framework Directive 89/391/EEC [1] in 1989.

[1] OJ L 183 of 29.6.1989, p. 1.

Between 1978 and 2000, four Community action programmes for safety and health at work were prepared and implemented. A document setting out guidelines for Community action in this field in the future was recently adopted by the Commission, based on its Communication on "Adapting to change in work and society: a new Community strategy on health and safety at work 2002-2006" [2].

[2] COM (2002) 118 final of 11.3.2002.

2. There are four committees currently helping the Commission to draft legislation and implement Community policy on the protection of workers' health and safety:

- the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work (ACSHH), set up by Council Decision 74/325/EEC of 27 June 1974 [3],

[3] OJ L 185 of 9.7.1974, p. 15.

- the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries (SHCMOEI), set up by the decisions taken at the 36th and 42nd Council sessions of 6 September 1956 and 9 and 10 May 1957 as referred to in the Council Decision of 9 July 1957 [4], the responsibilities of which were extended to all the extractive industries by Council Decision 74/326/EEC of 27 June 1974 [5],

[4] OJ 57 of 31.8.1957, p. 487.

[5] OJ L 185 of 9.7.1974, p. 18.

- the Senior Labour Inspectors' Committee (SLIC), set up by Commission Decision 95/319/EC of 12 July 1995 [6], and

[6] OJ L 188 of 9.8.1995, p. 11.

- the Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits to Chemical Agents (SCOEL), set up by Commission Decision 95/320/EC of 12 July 1995 [7].

[7] OJ L 188 of 9.8.1995, p. 14.

3. In its Communication on a Community programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at work (1996-2000) [8], the Commission pointed out the need to streamline the operation of the two committees set up by Council decisions - the ACSHH and the SHCMOEI - by merging them, reducing the number of members and giving them a single secretariat.

[8] COM (95) 282 final of 12.7.1995, p. 18.

When new Member States join the EU in the current enlargement process, the number of members on the committees is likely to rise significantly, which might adversely affect their efficiency.

The Communication from the Commission on a new Community strategy on health and safety at work 2002-2006 also notes that "the effective implementation of Community law requires close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States' administrations" and that this "cooperation would be better and simpler if the two advisory committees were to be merged into a single Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work" [9].

[9] COM (2002) 118 final, point 3.3.1.4.

The radical changes which have taken place over the past few years in working life and in the European project, particularly as a result of incorporating a social protocol in the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the new prospects opened up by the current enlargement process all require a critical and constructive re-examination of the consultation process and the bodies set up for this purpose in the European Union.

This proposal for a Council decision is in keeping with the above considerations and was discussed at length with the social partners and government representatives on the Advisory Committee, which then gave its opinion. By creating an Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work and repealing the decisions which set up the former Advisory Committee and the SHCMOEI, this proposal seeks to establish a larger body that can handle the tasks of both the existing Committees and operate more efficiently.

2. CONTENT AND JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROPOSED MEASURES

2.1. Legal basis for the proposal

The legal basis for this proposal is Article 202, second indent, of the Treaty, under which the Council has decision-making powers in this area.

2.2. Legal form of the instrument

The very nature of safety and health protection at work makes it necessary to have a tripartite body for general consultation at European Union level, enabling a transparent public debate to be held which involves all the players concerned in defining the broad outlines of Community policy in this field.

Such a body must be able to deliver technical and political expert opinions on specific initiatives at Community level and assess their impact and how effectively they are implemented in the Member States.

The instrument setting up the Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work must therefore also take the form of a Council decision in the interests of consistency, simplicity and transparency, indicating that there is continuity in the consultation activities within the tripartite framework which has already proved eminently workable in both the current Advisory Committee and the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries.

2.3. Scope

This proposal (Article 2(1) paragraph 2) covers all private and public sectors of activity.

The new committee will take on the tasks of the current Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries and will extend its responsibilities to protection of workers against the risks derived from ionising radiation now governed by the Euratom Treaty.

Its activities will reflect the proven "general" and "cross-disciplinary" approach of the existing Advisory Committee and confirm the Commission's avowed aim of setting up a single advisory body covering all health and safety at work issues which it is likely to have to address.

In order to safeguard the knowledge and experience acquired by the Safety and Health Commission in the specific area of the extractive industries, this proposal also provides for sectoral standing working parties to be set up for these industries (Recital 9 and article 6(4), second paragraph).

The Commission considers that questions relating to social dialogue in the mining and extractive industries should not be underestimated and intends to strengthen the arrangements in this area in parallel with this proposal.

2.4. The responsibilities of the new committee

Article 2(1) paragraph 1 extends the responsibilities of the new Committee to assessing all initiatives related to safety, hygiene and health protection at work.

This is in response to the Commission's repeated demands for safety and health to be better integrated in all Community policies whenever these have repercussions on important aspects of workers' protection.

Specifically, Article 2(2)(f) gives the new Committee responsibility for issuing an opinion on all draft Community initiatives which have any impact on safety and health at work.

2.5. Links with the other committees and the Bilbao Agency

Streamlining consultative procedures in the existing committees and integrating the activities of various bodies which participate in defining and implementing Community policy on safety and health at work are the priorities which inform this proposal.

Article 2(3) hence formalises the existing informal arrangements for cooperation between the Advisory Committee and the two technical committees, SLIC and SCOEL. These will be fleshed out in the rules of procedure of the new committee, which will be adopted on the basis of the Commission's opinion (Article 8).

As regards relations between the new committee and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Article 2(2)(g) confirms that the new committee has the task of delivering an opinion on the Agency's work programmes, which the current Advisory Committee already does informally.

Article 2(2)(e) also stipulates that the new Committee, as well as the Agency, has a role to play in disseminating information on safety and health.

2.6. Composition of the Committee

In compliance with the decisions setting them up [10], the current two Advisory bodies have 90 members (ACSHH) and 60 members (SHCMOEI) respectively. As things stand, the Committees are destined to increase in size in proportion to the number of new Member States in the enlarged Union, which would mean that they were too large and increasingly prone to inefficiency.

[10] Specifically, Article 4(1) of Decision 74/325/EEC and Article 3(1) of the rules of procedure of the Mines Safety Commission annexed to the Council Decision of 9 July 1957.

The new committee resulting from the merger of the two existing ones must therefore be made up in a different way in order to ensure that it has the flexibility it needs to work effectively.

Article 3(1) of this proposal for a decision therefore amends Decision 74/325/EEC with regard to the makeup of the Committee in as far as it only leaves room for a single representative per interest group and per Member State instead of the two representatives provided for at present.

2.7. Structure and operation of the Committee

The current Advisory Committee's operation is governed by only two legally binding instruments, namely Council Decision 74/325/EEC of 27 June 1974 and the rules of procedure approved by the Council on 30 April 1976.

Since the documents produced subsequently by the committee (specifically the opinion of 3 March 1989 on the working methods of the Advisory Committee and the draft amendment of its rules of procedure of 23 April 1997) are in no way legally binding, any amendment and/or addition to the above-mentioned instruments is, of course, incompatible with any provisions to the contrary of Decision 74/325/EEC and the rules of procedure.

In particular, both Decision 74/325/EEC and the rules of procedure approved by the Council on 30 April 1976 provide only that the Committee may set up working parties (Article 6(4) of Decision 74/325/EEC and Article 14 of the rules of procedure).

However, the way the Advisory Committee is now run in practice is that there are three separate interest groups made up of representatives of national governments, trade union organisations and employers' organisations respectively, a number of working parties set up by the Committee to deal with specific technical questions and a planning group made up of five representatives of each interest group, which coordinates the Committee's activities.

Article 5 of this proposal for a decision primarily seeks to formalise, strengthen and endorse the Committee's proven organisational structure (comprising interest groups representing workers, employers and national governments), which has stood the test of time.

It also provides for a spokesperson (who has to be a member of the committee) and a coordinator to be appointed for each interest group to represent them in the Bureau which is to form a permanent coordinating body for the committee's activities.

Article 6(4) stipulates that the number of members in the working parties, which are additional to the organisational structure, is three per interest group (rather than five at the moment).

The option of setting up sectoral standing working parties to deal with specific problems in given sectors is also provided for (Article 6(4), second paragraph).

2.8. Decision-making procedures

Whilst keeping the voting rules laid down by Article 7 of Decision 74/325/EEC, which provide for an absolute majority, Article 7(3) of this proposal offers the new Committee the option of fast-track decision-making procedures (to be determined subsequently in the rules of procedure) in order to make it more efficient and more able to respond rapidly to requests from the Commission.

2.9. Procedure for appointing members and the duration of their mandate

The Commission takes the view that the current procedure for appointing members of the ACSHH (Article 4 of Decision 74/325/EEC) and the duration of their mandate (Article 5 of the same Decision) are satisfactory and there is no need to amend them.

Article 3(3) incorporates a gender dimension, emphasising the need for a balanced representation of men and women which reflects their proportion of the working population and also indicates the need for the entire range of skills required to accomplish the Committee's various tasks to be covered.

2.10. Committee meetings

In view of the problems encountered with regard to the Member of the Commission taking part in meetings of the former Advisory Committee (Article 6(1) of Decision 74/325/EEC), Article 6(1) of this proposal for a decision stipulates that the Director-General in charge of social policy at the Commission chair the new committee's meetings. In the event of the Director General not being able to attend, a Commission representative holding the rank of at least director is required in order to maintain a suitable political profile for the Committee's meetings.

When experts are required for the Committee to do its work effectively, Article 6(3) provides for them to be limited to the reasonable number of two (in addition to any coordinators who are not committee members) to be nominated by the Chair and each of the interest groups.

At present, observers (from the Bilbao Agency, Dublin Foundation, Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries, etc.) are automatically invited to take part in the plenary meetings of the ACSHH. Article 6(6) of the proposal formalises these arrangements by establishing a full list of observers who may attend meetings of the new committee.

Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION setting up an Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Article 202 thereof,

Having regard to the Commission's proposal, presented after consultation of the Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work,

Whereas:

(1) Protection against occupational accidents and diseases and occupational hygiene are amongst the objectives of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

(2) The profound transformation in production methods in all sectors of the economy and the spread of dangerous techniques and materials have created new problems for the safety, hygiene and health protection of workers at their place of work.

(3) A standing body should be envisaged to assist the Commission in the preparation and implementation of activities in the fields of safety, hygiene and health protection at work and to facilitate cooperation between national administrations, trade unions and employers' organisations.

(4) A Mines Safety Commission was set up by decisions taken by the Council of Ministers at the 36th and 42nd Council sessions of 6 September 1956 and 9 and 10 May 1957, the remit of which was established by the Council Decision of 9 July 1957 concerning the terms of reference and the rules of procedure of the Mines Safety Commission [11], as amended most recently by the Act of Accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, and the powers of which were extended by Council Decision 74/326/EEC of 27 June 1974 on the extension of the responsibilities of the Mines Safety and Health Commission to all mineral extracting industries [12];

[11] OJ 57 of 31.8.1957, p. 487.

[12] OJ L 185 of 9.7.1974, p. 18.

(5) Moreover Council Decision 74/325/EEC of 27 June 1974 on the setting up of an advisory committee on safety, hygiene and health protection at work [13] as amended most recently by the Act of Accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Finland also set up a standing body for all economic activities except for the extractive industries and the protection of the health of workers against the dangers arising from ionising radiation;

[13] OJ L 185 of 9.7.1974, p. 15.

(6) The radical changes which have taken place over the past few years in working life and in the European project, specifically as a result of incorporating a social protocol in the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the new prospects opened up by the current enlargement process require a critical and constructive re-examination of the consultation process and the bodies set up for this purpose in the European Union.

(7) In its communication on a Community programme in the field of safety, hygiene and health protection at work (1996-2000) [14], the Commission stressed the need to streamline the operation of the two committees set up by Council decisions - the Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work and the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries - by merging them, reducing the number of members and giving them a single secretariat.

[14] COM (95) 282 final of 12.7.1995.

(8) The communication from the Commission on "Adapting to change in work and society: a new Community strategy on safety and health 2002-2006 [15]" also notes that effective implementation of Community law requires close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States' administrations and that this cooperation would be better and simpler if the two advisory committees were to be merged into a single Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work.

[15] COM (2002) 118 final of 11.3.2002.

(9) The structure of the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work should to be retained with changes made to streamline its operation. The knowledge and experience acquired by the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries should also be safeguarded by setting up standing working parties for specific sectors within the Advisory Committee;

(10) This reform should be incorporated in a new decision setting up an Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work as a single advisory body and repealing Decision 74/325/EEC;

(11) The decisions setting up the Mines Safety Commission taken at the 36th and 42nd Council sessions of 6 September 1956 and 9 and 10 May 1957, the Council Decision of 9 July 1957 concerning the terms of reference and rules of procedure of the Mines Safety Commission and Decision 74/326/EEC should also be repealed.

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

An Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work (hereinafter called the "Committee") is hereby set up.

Article 2

1. The Committee shall have the task of assisting the Commission in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of activities in the fields of safety, hygiene and health protection at work.

This task shall cover all public and private sectors of the economy, including the protection of the health of workers against the dangers arising from ionising radiation, which is subject to special rules pursuant to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.

2. Specifically, the Committee shall:

a) conduct, on the basis of the information available to it, exchanges of views and experience regarding existing or planned regulations;

b) help to devise a common approach to problems in the fields of safety, hygiene and health protection at work and identify Community priorities as well as the measures necessary for implementing them;

c) draw the Commission's attention to areas in which there is an apparent need for new knowledge and for suitable training and research measures;

d) define, within the framework of Community action programmes:

- the criteria and aims for preventing accidents at work and health hazards within the undertaking;

- methods enabling undertakings and their employees to evaluate and to improve the level of protection;

e) contribute, alongside the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, to keeping national administrations, trades unions and employers' organisations informed of Community measures in order to facilitate cooperation and to encourage any initiatives on their part to exchange experience and establish codes of practice;

f) give an opinion on plans for Community initiatives which affect safety and health at work;

g) give an opinion on the annual programme and the rotating four-year programme of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

3. In order to accomplish the above tasks, the Committee shall cooperate with the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee and the Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits to Chemical Agents, mainly by exchanging information.

Article 3

1. The Committee shall consist of three full members for each Member State, there being one representative each of the national governments, trade unions and employers' organisations.

2. An alternate member shall be appointed for each full member.

Without prejudice to Article 7 (3), the alternative member shall attend Committee meetings only when the member for whom he deputises is unable to be present.

3. Full members and alternate members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Council which, in respect of representatives of trade unions and employers' organisations, shall endeavour to ensure that the composition of the Committee fairly reflects the various economic sectors concerned and the proportion of men and women in the working population. The Council shall ensure that the necessary range of skills is available for the Committee to accomplish its tasks.

4. The list of the members and alternate members shall be published by the Council in the Official Journal of the European Communities for information purposes.

Article 4

1. The term of office of full members and alternate members shall be three years. Their appointments shall be renewable.

2. On expiry of their term of office, the full members and alternate members shall remain in office until they are replaced or their appointments are renewed.

3. A member's term of office shall end before the expiry of the three-year period with his resignation or following a communication from the Member State concerned indicating that the term of office is terminated.

For the remainder of the term of office, the member shall be replaced in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3.

Article 5

1. Within the Committee, there shall be three interest groups, made up of representatives of national governments, trade unions and employers respectively.

2. Each interest group shall select one of its members to be its spokesperson.

3. Each interest group shall designate a coordinator who will take part in meetings of the Committee, the Bureau and the interest group.

4. A Bureau shall be formed to organise the Committee's activities, made up of two representatives of the Commission and the spokespersons and coordinators nominated by the interest groups.

Article 6

1. The Committee shall be chaired by the Director-General in charge of social policy at the Commission or, where he/she is prevented from so doing and as an exception, by one of the Directorate-General's directors to be nominated by him/her. The Chair shall not vote.

2. The Committee shall meet when convened by the Chair, either at the latter's initiative or at the request of at least one-third of its members.

3. The Chair may, on his/her own initiative, invite up to two experts to participate in Committee meetings.

Each interest group may be accompanied by up to two experts, provided that it so informs the Chair at least three days before the Committee meeting.

4. The Committee may establish working parties to be chaired by a Committee member. Each working party shall be made up of three experts for each interest group.

These may be standing working parties in order to enable questions arising in a specific sector to be dealt with on a permanent basis.

The Chairs of these working parties shall submit the results of their proceedings in the form of a report at a meeting of the Committee.

5. Representatives of any Commission departments concerned shall participate in meetings of the Committee and the working parties.

Secretarial services shall be provided for the Committee and working parties by the Commission.

6. The following observers may attend meetings of the Committee:

- the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work;

- the Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions;

- a representative for each interest group of the Member States of the European Economic Area.

The Chair may, on the basis of the Bureau's reasoned opinion, authorise other observers to attend meeting(s) of the Committee.

Article 7

1. An opinion delivered by the Committee shall not be valid unless two-thirds of its members are present. Only members may vote.

2. Opinions of the Committee shall state the reasons on which they are based; they shall be delivered by an absolute majority of the votes validly cast. They shall be accompanied by a written statement of the views expressed by the minority, when the latter so requests.

3. The Committee shall devise fast-track decision-making procedures to which the conditions of (1) and (2) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 8

The Committee shall, having received an opinion from the Commission, adopt its rules of procedure which shall lay down the practical arrangements for its activities and, in particular, those for fast-track decision-making and enhanced cooperation with the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee and the Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits to Chemical Agents.

Article 9

Without prejudice to Article 287 of the Treaty, Committee members shall be required not to disclose information to which they have gained access through Committee or working party proceedings, if the Commission informs them that the opinion requested or the question raised is of a confidential nature.

In such cases, only Committee members and representatives of the Commission shall attend the meetings concerned.

Article 10

The decisions setting up the Mines Safety Commission taken at the 36th and 42nd Council sessions of 6 September 1956 and 9 and 10 May 1957, the Council Decision of 9 July 1957 concerning the terms of reference and rules of procedure of the Mines Safety Commission and Council Decisions 74/325/EEC and 74/326/EEC are hereby repealed.

Article 11

This Decision shall enter into force on 1 July 2003.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1. Title of operation

Setting up of an Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work

2. Budget headings involved

A-2531 Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work

A-2530 Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries

3. Legal basis

Article 202 of the EC Treaty. Council Decision expected during 2003.

4. Description of operation

4.1 General objective

The Commission has repeatedly pointed out the need to streamline the operation of the two existing advisory committees in the field of health and safety at work, namely the Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work and the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries, by merging the committees, reducing the number of members and giving them a single secretariat. To this end, this proposal is intended to set up a single advisory body undertaking the tasks of both existing committees and covering all the issues which the Commission is likely to address in the field of safety and health at work

4.2 Period covered and arrangements for renewal

Indefinite

5. Classification of expenditure or revenue

5.1 Compulsory/non-compulsory expenditure

Non-compulsory expenditure

5.2 Differentiated/non-differentiated appropriations

Non-differentiated appropriations

5.3 Type of revenue involved

None

6. Type of expenditure or revenue

100 % for the necessary personnel and costs of meetings and seminars.

7. Financial impact

No impact on operating expenditure; for administrative expenditure see point 10.

8. Fraud prevention measures

Expenditure will be carried out in accordance with the normal administrative rules governing the payment of expenses of experts invited to meetings.

9. Elements of cost-effectiveness analysis

9.1 Specific and quantifiable objectives; target population

To set up a single - larger - advisory committee in the field of safety and health at work undertaking the tasks of the two existing committees.

To reduce the total number of members and bring the tasks within the purview of a single operational body in order to use available resources more efficiently.

9.2 Grounds for the operation

The radical changes which have taken place over the past few years in working life and in the European project, particularly as a result of incorporating a social protocol in the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the new prospects opened up by the current enlargement process all require a critical and constructive re-examination of the consultation process and the bodies set up for this purpose in the European Union.

The very nature of safety and health at work makes it necessary to have a tripartite body for general consultation at European Union level, enabling a transparent public debate to be held which involves all the players concerned in defining the broad outlines of Community policy in this field.

As things stand, the Committees are destined to increase in size in proportion to the number of new Member States in the enlarged Union, which would mean that they were too large and increasingly prone to inefficiency.

9.3 Monitoring and evaluation of the operation

The Committee shall be responsible for preparing opinions for the Commission.

9.4 Coherence with financial programming

The measures provided for are included in the financial programming of DG EMPL.

10. Administrative expenditure (Section III, Part A of the budget)

10.1 Effect on the number of posts

>TABLE POSITION>

Each of the two existing committees currently operates with the total number of posts indicated above.

10.2 Reduction of other administrative expenditure as a result of the operation

The two existing committees currently operate under the two budget headings A-2531 (Advisory Committee) and A-2530 (Safety and Health Commission) with an overall budget of EUR 785 000 (EUR 385 000 for heading A-2531 and EUR 400 000 for heading A-2530).

Setting up a single committee undertaking the tasks of the two existing ones will reduce operating expenditure considerably and bring it under a single budget heading (A-2531).

It is estimated that the Committee will hold three plenary meetings a year (with a meeting of the three interest groups being held on the day before each one), three annual meetings of the interest groups, six annual meetings of the Bureau responsible for coordinating the Committee's activities and an average of 36 meetings of the 18 working parties, with a total expenditure of EUR 608 850 per year under budget heading A-2531.

EUR

>TABLE POSITION>

All expenditure attributed to title A2 will be covered from the annual allocation for operating appropriations.