WRITTEN QUESTION E-1219/00 by Alonso Puerta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Safety of workers in Spanish tunnels.
Date: 2000-04-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, competence of the Member States, national implementing measure, occupational safety, public works, tunnel

26.1.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 26 E/159

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(19 May 2000)

As a response to the information provided by the Honourable Member in his written question No
P-357/98, the Commission took the necessary steps to find out from the Spanish authorities the exact
situation and commenced a pre-litigation procedure.

The Spanish authorities admitted that they authorised a substance containing resins modified by maleic
anhydride and esterified with pentaerythrol for treating citrus fruit after harvest. However, they stated that
they believed the substance in question was covered by the provisions of Council Directive 91/414/EEC
concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market (1).

As the Commission pointed out that the practice in question contravened the relevant Community
legislation, in particular European Parliament and Council Directive No 95/2/EC of 20 February 1995 on
food additives other than colours and sweeteners, the Spanish authorities confirmed recently that they
would withdraw licences for the controversial substances. The Commission is therefore closing the file.

In general, it is the responsibility of Member States to ensure that economic actors are complying with the
above legislation.

If the Member State fails in this obligation, it is up to the Commission to decide whether to initiate the
procedure laid down in Article 226 (formerly Article 169) of the EC Treaty.

(1) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991.

(2001/C 26 E/198)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1219/00

by Alonso Puerta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(14 April 2000)

Subject: Safety of workers in Spanish tunnels

The Community and the Member States are endeavouring to reduce the industrial accident rate to a
minimum. However, the measures adopted by the Spanish Government in 1997 to transpose Council
Directives 92/57/EEC (1) of 24 June 1992 and 92/104/EEC (2) of 3 December 1992 have given rise to
serious inconsistencies posing additional safety risks in civil engineering tunnel works. The above
Community Directives on the safety of workers make a clear distinction between extractive industries
and civil engineering works. Directive 92/57/EEC relates to the safety of temporary or mobile construction
sites, and Articles 1 and 2 explicitly exclude extractive industries. (cid:145)Work on wells, underground earthworks
and tunnels(cid:146) is listed in Annex II to the Directive (point 6) among the types of work involving risks to
workers. Directive 92/104/EEC relates only to safety in the extractive industries, in other words under-
ground or opencast mines.

Prompted by the Ministry for the Prime Minister(cid:146)s Office, the Spanish Government transposed Directive
92/57/EEC quite correctly under Royal Decree 1627/1997, issued on 24 October of that year, laying down
minimum safety provisions applicable to civil engineering works, including tunnelling, digging of wells,
and other works entailing underground earth movements. Article 1(2) of the Decree expressly excludes
extractive industries. However, when it issued Royal Decree 1389/1997 of 5 September 1997, stemming
from a proposal from the Ministry for Industry, Energy, and Mining, the Government transposed Directive
92/104/EEC surprisingly inaccurately in that Article 2(4) of the Decree refers not only to the extractive
industries, but in addition to all industries carrying out tunnelling or (gallery) driving operations.

As a result of these two inconsistent provisions, site managers and other tunnel workers are having to
contend with a confused body of mandatory rules and contradictory optional instructions because there is
an overlap of responsibilities between authorities that enforce different safety regulations and separate
systems of penalties. The fact that substantial amounts are expected to be invested in public works in
Spain over the next few years could increase the instances of risk.

C 26 E/160

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.1.2001

What steps will the Commission take to ensure that Directive 92/104/EEC is properly transposed in Spain
and, specifically, to make the Spanish authorities repeal Article 2(4) of Royal Decree 1389/1997 of
5 September 1997?

(1) OJ L 245, 26.8.1992, p. 6.
(2) OJ L 404, 31.12.1992, p. 10.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(26 May 2000)

The Commission has examined the Spanish measures for implementing Council Directive 92/57/EEC of
24 June 1992 on the implementation of minimum safety and health requirements at temporary or mobile
construction sites (eighth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/
EEC) and Council Directive 92/104/EEC of 3 December 1992 on the minimum requirements for
improving the safety and health protection of workers in surface and underground mineral-extracting
industries (twelfth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) and
has concluded that they have been correctly transposed into Spanish law.

This conclusion remains unaffected by the fact that under Real Decreto 1389/1997, which transposes
Directive 92/104/EEC on surface and underground mineral-extracting industries into Spanish law, tunnel-
ling activities of all kinds are subject to the minimum requirements applicable to the mining sector. Indeed,
Real Decreto 1389/1997 states that this provision is without prejudice to the rules applicable to the
construction sector,
i.e. provisions transposing Council Directive 92/57/EEC on temporary or mobile
construction sites.

Insofar as Directive 92/57/CEE was adopted on the basis of Article 137 of the EC Treaty (ex Article 118A),
it lays down (cid:145)minimum requirements(cid:146) in the field of health and safety to be implemented on temporary or
mobile construction sites. The expression (cid:145)minimum requirements(cid:146) indicates that the Member States are at
liberty to maintain or introduce measures more stringent that those which form the subject of the
Directive, in accordance with Article 137(5) of the EC Treaty. This means that a Member State may extend
the scope of application of the minimum requirements laid down for the mining sector to include
activities in the construction sector provided that the minimum requirements established for this sector by
Directive 92/57/EEC are not compromised.

An examination of Spanish legislation has shown that the application of the minimum requirements for
the mining sector to some construction activities such as tunnelling has increased the level of protection
for workers as laid down by Directive 92/57/EEC.

It is the responsibility of the Member States to ensure proper checks and monitoring of the national
provisions transposing directives. In this connection, the appointment of the competent authorities is
entirely a matter for the Member States.

(2001/C 26 E/199)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1236/00

by Giuseppe Nistic(cid:242) (PPE-DE) to the Council

(10 April 2000)

Subject: Medicinal herbs and plants

Because of the widespread distribution and abuse of medicinal herbs, without proper controls over either
the marketing or prescribing of these products, this highly sensitive sector needs to be regulated as a
matter of urgency, bearing in mind the possible effects on human health.

International scientific literature on the subject has revealed, as widely reported in the media recently in
both the United States and Europe, that some of these medicinal herbs, when used without medical
supervision, are responsible for thousands of cases of fatal poisoning, as well as causing a series of
unwanted or toxic side-effects in the form of allergies or affecting the cardiovascular system, the kidneys,
the central nervous system and other systems or organs.