5.5.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 184/57 Wednesday 20 October 2021
53.
Calls on the Commission to present a proposal for an amendment to Article 7 of Directive 2010/31/EU in the context of the Renovation Wave introducing a requirement for the mandatory asbestos screening, registering, and removal of asbestos and other dangerous substances before any renovation works can start, while having regard to Article 153(1)(a) TFEU on the improvement, in particular, of the working environment to protect workers' health and safety; 54.
Calls on the Commission to present a legislative proposal that takes into account existing national regulations as well as an impact assessment on most efficient models for the mandatory screening of buildings, consisting of a surface diagnosis of the presence of asbestos by a professional entity with appropriate qualifications and permits, before sale or rent and for the establishment of asbestos certificates for buildings constructed before 2005 or before the year of an equivalent national asbestos ban, whichever the earlier; 55.
Calls on the Member States to adopt protective measures for tenants where asbestos is found prior to energy renovation works; emphasises that screening and removal expenses should not be payable by the tenants; calls on the Member States to ensure that tenants receive full disclosure with regard to asbestos in buildings and that they are provided by the asbestos certificate; The Union as a global leader against asbestos 56.
Welcomes the Council Conclusions of 12 March 2021, which emphasise the need to strengthen national market surveillance capabilities and the role of the customs authorities; calls on the Member States to strengthen controls and market surveillance and to cooperate with other Member States’ border and customs authorities to prevent the entry of illegal asbestos-containing products into the internal market; stresses the importance of supporting and developing sustainable solutions for dismantling vessels within the Union in line with the New Circular Economy Action Plan in order to avoid adverse health effects on workers due to asbestos exposure when dismantling vessels; calls on the Commission to ensure high standards for the protection of workers against asbestos exposure at Union- approved ship recycling facilities in third countries; calls on the Commission to launch a study mapping the scale of illegal imports into the Union of asbestos-containing products and materials, and outlining potential measures to strengthen market surveillance, which could include the possibility of restricting access to docking, port facilities and temporary storage within the Union of vessels that carry asbestos containing products or materials as cargo in transit; 57.
Calls on the Commission to make the listing of chrysotile asbestos in Annex III to the Rotterdam Convention and a global ban on asbestos top priorities; calls on the Union to work with international organisations to pioneer instruments to label the asbestos market as a toxic trade; calls on the Union to integrate the fight against asbestos and asbestos-related diseases into its external policies; calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase their support, including financial, of global actors working against asbestos and asbestos-related diseases, including the WHO; condemns financial investment in global asbestos industries; 58.
Recalls that one third of the people in the WHO European region live in countries which have not yet banned the use of all forms of asbestos (32); points out that 16 European countries still use asbestos, particularly as a building material, and continue to produce and export it; Financial aspects 59.
Calls on the Commission to assess the financial implications of Parliament’s requests in accordance with paragraphs 17 and 18 of this Resolution and point 3 of Annex I; o o
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60.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the accompanying recommendations to the Commission and the Council.
(32)
https://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2015/04/at-least-one-in-three-europeans-can-be-exposed-to-as­ bestos-at-work-and-in-the-environment