Resolution of the ECSC Consultative Committee on the need to maintain the specific nature of the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and other Extractive Industries
Date: 1998-06-25
Institutions: Consultative Committee of the European Coal and Steel Community
Subjects: advisory committee (EU), coal industry, mining extraction, occupational health, occupational safety, social dialogue (EU)

C  232/4

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

24.7.98

RESOLUTION  OF  THE  ECSC  CONSULTATIVE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  NEED  TO  MAINTAIN
THE  SPECIFIC  NATURE  OF  THE  SAFETY  AND  HEALTH  COMMISSION  FOR  THE  MINING
AND  OTHER  EXTRACTIVE  INDUSTRIES

(98/C  232/04)

(adopted  unanimously  less  one  abstention  during  the  340th  Session  of  25  June  1998)

1. Introduction

1.1.(cid:217)The  Commission’s  proposal  to  merge  the  Safety
and  Health  Commission  for  the  Mining  and
other  Extractive  Industries  with  the  Advisory
Committee  on  Safety,  Hygiene  and  Health
Protection  at  Work,  as  set  out  in  the  Community
programme  1996(cid:220)2000(cid:216)(˛),  has  not  yet  been
implemented.

1.4.(cid:217)The  recent  important  changes  in  the  construction
of  Europe,  in  particular  the  introduction  of  a
social  chapter  in  the  Amsterdam  Treaty,  call  for
the
a  critical  and  constructive 
experience  gained  through  dialogue  and  of  the
bodies  set  up  for  this  purpose  among  the  social
partners  in  the  European  Union.

review  of 

1.2.(cid:217)The  Consultative  Committee 

already
expressed  its  opposition  to  this  proposal,  in  a
resolution  adopted  unanimously  at 
its  328th
Session  on  14  March  1996(cid:216)(ˇ).

has 

1.5.(cid:217)The  Safety  and  Health  Commission  has  a  wealth
of  solid,  highly  productive  experience  behind  it
and  has  worked  unceasingly  and  to  good  effect
to  improve  safety  conditions  in  the  extractive
industries 
sound
working  practices.

by  developing 

technically 

1.3.(cid:217)The  Safety  and  Health  Commission  was  set  up  as
long  ago  as  6  September  1956  and  10  May  1957,
at  the  36th  and  42nd  sessions  of  the  Council  of
Ministers(cid:216)(—).  A  clear,  detailed  mandate  giving  it
the  right  of  initiative  was  conferred  upon  it  under
a  Council  Decision  adopted  at  the  44th  session
on  9  July  1957(cid:216)((cid:209)).  It  originally  covered  coal
mines  only  but  later,  under  the  Council  Decision
of  27  June  1974,  its  scope  was  extended  to  all  the
extractive  industries(cid:216)((cid:210)).

The  Advisory  Committee  on  Safety,  Hygiene  and
Health  Protection  at  Work  was  set  up  under  the
Council  Decision  of  27  June  1974(cid:216)((cid:211))  to  help  the
Commission  prepare  activities 
in  the  relevant
fields  and  put  them  into  effect.  Whereas  the
Safety  and  Health  Commission  has  a  highly
specific  mandate,  the  Advisory  Committee’s  remit
is  very  general,  namely  to  help  the  Commission
prepare  and  put  into  effect  activities  for  which  it
is  responsible.

(˛)(cid:217)COM(95)  282  final.
(ˇ)(cid:217)OJ  C  138,  9.5.1996.
(—)(cid:217)OJ  487,  31.8.1957.
((cid:209))(cid:217)OJ  487,  31.8.1957.
((cid:210))(cid:217)OJ  L  185,  9.7.1974.
((cid:211))(cid:217)OJ  L  185,  9.7.1974.

2. The  sectoral  aspect  of  this  social  dialogue

2.1.(cid:217)A  critical  review  of  European(cid:220)level  advisory
bodies  suggests  that  the  more  sharply  they  focus
on  sectoral  aspects  the  more  effective  they  are.
This  would  appear  to  be  a  logical  consequence  of
the  principle  of  subsidiarity.

2.2.(cid:217)Unlike  the  advisory  bodies  set  up  under  the
ECSC  Treaty,  which  were  necessarily  sectoral,
later  ones  such  as  the  Advisory  Committee  on
Safety,  Hygiene  and  Health  Protection  at  Work,
have  cut  across  sectors.

2.3.(cid:217)At  a  time  when  the  characteristics  of  the  social
dialogue  of  the  future  are  up  for  discussion,  it  is
appropriate  to  bear  in  mind  that  Community
experience  over  many  years  has  shown  such  a
dialogue  to  be  most  effective  and  productive
when  it  focuses  on  a  specific  sector  of  activity
and  develops  within  a  single  forum,  at  different
levels  and  dealing  with  various  subjects  ranging
from  market  trends,  research  and  innovation  to
training,  the  safety  and  health  of  workers  and  the
social  aspects  of  restructuring.

24.7.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  232/5

3. The  need  to  maintain  the  specific  nature  of  the  Safety

4. Conclusion

and  Health  Commission

3.1.(cid:217)Although  the  Safety  and  Health  Commission  is
the  general  Treaty  and  does  not
based  on 
therefore  depend  directly  on  the  ECSC  Treaty
for  its  existence,  there  are  several  reasons  why  it
needs  to  continue  its  activities  in  both  the  short
and  the  long  term.

3.2.(cid:217)The 

first  harmonised  European 

statistics  on
accidents  at  work 
indicate  that,  even  though
enormous  progress  has  been  made,  working
conditions  in  coal  mines  and  in  the  extractive
industries  in  general  are  still  much  harsher  than
in  most  other  sectors  of  production  and  the  risks
inherent 
this  particularly  hostile  working
environment  are  still  greater.

in 

3.3.(cid:217)Moreover,  the  working  conditions  in  coal  mines
and  in  the  extractive  industries  in  general  are  so
specific  that  they  have  led  to  specific  legislation
in  most  Member  States  of  the  European  Union.

3.4.(cid:217)The  need  to  pass  on  specific  work  experience  to
both  young  workers 
in  mines  where  many
experienced  workers  have  been  made  redundant
during  periods  of  drastic  restructuring  and  to
workers  in  countries  applying  to  join  the  Union
makes  it  vital  to  use  instruments  of  dialogue  such
as  the  Safety  and  Health  Commission  to  enable
improvements  in  working  conditions  arising  from
past  experience  to  be  incorporated  gradually  into
the  Single  European  Market.

The  ECSC  Consultative  Committee

4.1. CONSIDERS  AND  RECOMMENDS 

the
Commission  that,  despite  the  expiry  of  the  ECSC
Treaty  under  which  it  was  set  up,  it  would  be
desirable  for  the  Safety  and  Health  Commission
for  the  Mining  and  other  Extractive  Industries  to
continue  as  an  independent  body;

to 

4.2.(cid:217)consequently  ASKS  the  European  Commission  to
prevent  the  Safety  and  Health  Commission  from
disappearing 
in  a  merger  with  the  Advisory
Committee  on  Safety,  Hygiene  and  Health
Protection  at  Work;

4.3. RECOMMENDS  that,  with  a  view  to  possible
future  rationalisation, 
the  Safety  and  Health
Commission  continue  in  existence  as  a  specific,
independent  body  even  if  it  has  to  be  linked  from
an  operational  point  of  view  with  the  Advisory
Committee  on  Safety,  Hygiene  and  Health
Protection  at  Work;

4.4. WISHES  TO  MAKE  THE  POINT  that  this  type  of
structure,  namely  an  operational  relationship
between  one  or  more  specific  groups  which
create  their  own  momentum  and  a  more  general
body,  might  serve  as  a  model  for  an  effective
tie(cid:220)up  between  the  sectoral  aspects 
in  other
branches  of 
the  multi(cid:220)sectoral
aspects  at  Union  level.

industry  and