CELEX: 51990PC0564
Language: en
Date: 1991-09-25
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) ESTABLISHING A EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK

16. 10.91                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 271/3
                                                               II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                  COMMISSION
               Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) establishing a European Agency for Safety and
                                                        Health at Work
                                                         (91/C 271/03)
                                                      COM(90) 564 final
                                     (Submitted by the Commission on 30 September 1991)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          Whereas this resolution also called for intensified
                                                                   cooperation with and between the bodies active in this
                                                                   field;
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
 Economic Community, and in particular Article 235
 thereof,
                                                                   Whereas the Council also stressed the fundamental
                                                                   importance of workers being aware of the issues involved
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                and having access to information and, if necessary, to
                                                                   training if the measures recommended in the
                                                                   Commission's programme were to prove successful;
 Having regard       to  the   opinion   of   the  European
 Parliament,
                                                                   Whereas detailed, reliable and objective economic,
 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                                   technical and scientific data need to be collected,
 Social Committee,
                                                                   processed and analysed in order to provide the
                                                                   Commission and the Member States with the infor-
Whereas safety, hygiene and health at work are among               mation to enable them to respond to all the requests
 the priorities for an effective social policy;                    addressed to them, to introduce essential measures for
                                                                   the protection of the health and safety of workers and to
                                                                   provide those concerned with adequate information;
Whereas the Commission has described the measures
which it intends to take in these fields in its programme
concerning safety, hygiene and health at work (*), and in
its action programme concerning the implementation of             Whereas there are already organizations in the
the Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights                 Community and the Member States which provide this
for Workers O ;                                                   type of information and services;
Whereas, in its resolution of 21 December 1987 (3), the
Council welcomed the Commission communication on                  Whereas, in order to obtain the maximum benefit at
its programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at             Community level from work already carried out by these
work, and, inter alia, called on the Commission to                organizations, it would be appropriate to establish a
examine ways of improving the exchange of information             network to form a European monitoring system for
and experience in the field of health and safety at work,         collecting information on health and safety at work, to
in particular as regards the gathering and dissemination          be coordinated at Community level by a European
of data and the advisability of setting up Community              Agency for Safety and Health at Work;
machinery to study the repercussions at national level of
Community measures in this field;
                                                                  Whereas, in order to be able to respond more effectively
                                                                  to requests while maintaining its responsibility for moni-
(') OJ No C 28, 3. 2. 1988, p. 3.                                 toring the application of Community law, the
(2) COM(89) 568 final, 29. 11. 1989.                              Commission needs a flexible instrument designed to
(J) OJ No C 28, 3. 2. 1988, p. 1.                                 collect and process information, with a structure and
 ---pagebreak---  No C 271/4                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                 16. 10.91
with working programmes geared to the Commission's                (b) to set up, with the help of the Member States, and
own functional requirements and priorities;                            coordinate the network provided for in Article 4 for
                                                                       the purpose of exchanging information              and
                                                                       experience and, where appropriate, to coordinate the
Whereas it is therefore appropriate to set up a European               activities   of   the     organizations  involved    at
Agency for Safety and Health at Work responsible for                   Community level;
 assisting the Commission in carrying out the tasks
described above;
                                                                  (c) to promote the exchange of information and be
                                                                       responsible for its dissemination to all those
Whereas the rules and structure of the Agency must be                  concerned;
geared towards the nature of the results desired and
should be such that it can carry out its work in                  (d) to organize training courses for experts, including
cooperation with existing national and international                   instructors, and, if necessary, exchanges between
bodies;                                                                experts in the different Member States;
Whereas the Agency must be able to invite as observers            (e) to help ensure that national data on safety and
representatives of third countries and international                   health at the workplace are comparable and to
organizations who share the interests of the Community                 identify data which need to be harmonized;
and the Member States in the aims of the Agency;
                                                                  (f) to promote cooperation            in monitoring     the
                                                                       application of measures relating to safety and health
Whereas the Agency must have legal autonomy, while                     at the workplace;
maintaining close links with the Community institutions;
                                                                  (g) to cooperate with other Community bodies and
Whereas, for the adoption of this Regulation, the Treaty              programmes, and in particular with the Statistical
does not provide for powers other than those referred to              Office and the Community research programmes for
in Article 235,                                                       the definition of research requirements and exploi-
                                                                      tation of research results, on matters relating to
                                                                      safety and health at the workplace;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                                                 (h) to cooperate with other international organizations
                                                                      such as the World Health Organization and the
                           Article 1                                  International Labour Office, and with other
                                                                      institutions and organizations in non-member
A European Agency for Safety and Health at Work,
                                                                      countries;
hereinafter called the 'Agency', is hereby established.
                                                                 (i) to carry out other tasks laid down by the
Its headquarters are located at . . . in . . ..
                                                                      Commission with the agreement of the Adminis-
                                                                      trative Board.
                           Article 2
In order to promote the improvement of the working                                           Article 4
environment in particular, and to protect the safety and          1.    The Agency shall set up a network comprising the
health of workers as provided for in the Treaty and              following:
successive action programmes concerning health and
safety at the workplace, the aim of the Agency shall be
to provide the Community, the Member States and those            — the main components of the national information
involved in the field with all the technical, scientific and          networks,
economic information required in the field of safety and
health at the workplace.                                         — national focal points,
                                                                 — thematic centres.
                          Article 3
For the purpose of achieving the aim described in Article
2, the Agency's role shall be:                                   2.     To enable the network to be set up as quickly and
                                                                 efficiently as possible, the Member States must notify the
                                                                 Agency within six months of the entry into force of this
(a) to provide the Commission with the technical and             Regulation of the main components of their national
     scientific assistance necessary for the formulation         information networks on health and safety at work,
     and evaluation of measures envisaged in this field;         including any institutions which they feel might assist the
 ---pagebreak--- 16. 10.91                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 271/5
Agency with its work, given that the geographical                                          Article 6
coverage of their territory needs to be as complete as
                                                                The information and data supplied to the Agency or
possible.                                                       disseminated by it may be published and shall be
                                                                accessible to the public, provided that they comply with
                                                                the rules of the Community and the Member States on
3.     More particularly, they may specify among the
                                                                the dissemination of information, particularly as regards
institutions referred to in paragraph 2 or other organiz-
                                                                 confidentiality.
ations in their territory a 'national focal point' to be
responsible for coordinating and/or forwarding national
data to the Agency and the institutions or bodies
                                                                                           Article 7
belonging to the network, including the thematic centres
referred to in paragraph 4.                                     The Agency shall have legal personality. In all Member
                                                                 States it shall have the most extensive legal capacity
                                                                 accorded to legal persons under their laws.
4.     Within the period referred to in paragraph 2, the
Member States may also nominate institutions or other
organizations in their territory which might be speci-                                     Article 8
fically appointed to work with the Agency on certain
topics of particular interest. Any such institution or other     1.     The Agency shall have an Administrative Board
organization should be in a position to conclude an              consisting of:
agreement with the Agency to act as a thematic centre
for the network, carrying out specific tasks for a clearly       (a) a representative from each Member State;
defined geographical area. The centres shall cooperate
with other institutions or organizations belonging to the
                                                                 (b) 12 representatives from the two sides of industry in
network.
                                                                      the Member States, comprising six representatives
                                                                      from workers' trade union organizations and six
                                                                      representatives from employers' professional organiz-
5.     Within six months of receipt of the information
                                                                      ations; and
referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3, the Agency shall
confirm the main components of the network by
means of a decision of the Administrative Board and              (c) three Commission representatives.
in accordance with the arrangements referred to in
Article 5.
                                                                 2.     The members referred to in paragraph 1 (a) and (b)
                                                                 shall be appointed by the Commission after consultations
The thematic centres shall be appointed by a unanimous           with the Member States. The members referred to in
decision of the Administrative Board for a period of not         paragraph 1 (b) shall be chosen by the Commission from
more than three years. However, the appointment may              the members of the Advisory Committee on Safety,
be renewed.                                                      Hygiene and Health Protection at Work.
                                                                 In addition to the members, the Commission shall
6.     The specific tasks of the thematic centres shall be       appoint, by the same procedure, deputies who shall take
listed in the Agency's annual work programme referred            part in meetings in the absence of the member.
to in Article 10 (1).
                                                                 The members and deputies representing the Commission
7.     The Agency shall, in the light of experience, peri-       shall be appointed by the Commission.
odically re-examine the main components of the network
referred to in paragraph 2 and shall implement any
                                                                 3.     The members of the Administrative Board shall be
changes decided upon by the Administrative Board,
                                                                 appointed for three years and their appointments shall be
taking account, where appropriate, of any new desig-
                                                                 renewable. On expiry of their term of office, or should
nations by the Member States.                                    they resign, the members shall remain in office until such
                                                                 time as their term of office is renewed or a replacement
                                                                 is found.
                          Article 5
The Agency may reach an agreement with the                       4.     The Administrative Board shall be chaired by a
institutions or bodies belonging to the network referred         Commission representative. Each member of the Admin-
to in Article 4 on the arrangements required, and                istrative Board shall have one vote.
particularly contracts, for them to carry out their tasks.
Member States may stipulate that such arrangements
with the Agency in respect of institutions or national           5.     The Chairman shall call a meeting of the Adminis-
bodies on their territory should be concluded in                 trative Board at least twice a year and, in addition, at the
agreement with the national focal point.                         request of at least one-third of the members.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 271/6                            Official Journal of the European Communities                               16. 10.91
6.    Decisions of the Administrative Board shall be                                     Article 12
taken by a two-thirds majority, without prejudice to
Article 4 (5).                                                   1.   All the Agency's revenue and expenditure shall be
                                                                covered by estimates for each financial year, running
                                                                from 1 January to 31 December, and shall be shown in
7.    The Chairman of the Administrative Board and the          the Agency's budget.
Director of the European Foundation for the
improvement of Living and Working Conditions shall
attend meetings of the Administrative Board as observers.       2.     Revenue and expenditure shall balance.
                                                                3.    Without prejudice to other resources obtained from
                         Article 9                              payments made for the services of the Agency, the
The Administrative Board may, with the agreement of             Agency's revenue shall include a Community grant
the Commission, invite representatives of non-member            shown in the general budget of the European
countries and international organizations as observers.         Communities.
                                                                The     Agency's    main     expenditure   shall   include
                        Article 10                              remuneration of personnel, administrative and infra-
                                                                structure costs, operating costs and expenditure relating
1.    The Administrative Board shall adopt the Agency's
                                                                to contracts entered into with institutions or organiz-
annual work programme on the basis of a draft drawn
                                                                ations in implementation of the work programme.
up by the Director in agreement with the Commission.
The programme may be adapted during the year using                                       Article 13
the same procedure.
                                                                 1.   By 15 February each year at the latest, after
                                                                consulting the Administrative Board, the Director shall
2.    By 31 January each year at the latest, the Adminis-       draw up a draft estimate of the Agency's revenue and
trative Board shall adopt an annual general report on the       expenditure for the following year, together with a list of
Agency's activities. The Director shall communicate it to       posts.
the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission,
the Economic and Social Committee and the Member
States.                                                         2.    The Director shall forward the draft estimate to the
                                                                Commission. On this basis the Commission shall decide
                                                                on the estimates to be entered in the preliminary draft
                        Article 11                              budget which it shall place before the Council, in
                                                                accordance with Article 203 of the EEC Treaty.
1.    The Agency shall be run by a Director appointed
by the Administrative Board on a proposal from the
Commission for a period of five years; the appointment          3.    The Administrative Board shall adopt the Agency's
shall be renewable.                                             budget by the start of the financial year in question,
                                                                making any adjustments required to take account of the
                                                                Community subsidy and the Agency's other resources.
2.    The Director shall be the legal representative of the
Agency and shall be responsible for:
                                                                                        Article 14
— the proper preparation and implementation of the              1.    The Director shall implement the Agency's budget.
    work programme and of decisions taken by the
    Administrative Board,
                                                                2.    The Commission's financial controller shall be
— the day-to-day administration of the Agency,                  responsible for supervising the authorization and
                                                                payment of all the Agency's expenditure and the deter-
                                                                mination and collection of all its revenue.
— the preparation and publication of the report referred
    to in Article 10,
                                                                3.    By 31 March each year at the latest, the Director
— the execution of the work described,                          shall send the Commission, the Administrative Board and
                                                                the Court of Auditors the accounts of all the Agency's
                                                                revenue and expenditure for the previous year. The
— all personnel matters,                                        Court of Auditors shall examine these accounts in
                                                                accordance with Article 206a of the EEC Treaty.
— the preparation of Administrative Board meetings.
                                                                4.    The Administrative Board shall give a discharge to
3.    The Director shall report on his activities to the        the Director in respect of the implementation of the
Administrative Board.                                           budget.
 ---pagebreak--- 16. 10.91                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 271/7
                        Article 15                                                        Article 18
With the agreement of the Commission, the Adminis-               1.   The Agency's contractual liability shall be governed
trative Board shall make the internal financial                 by the law applicable to the contract in question. The
arrangements, specifying in particular the detailed rules       Court of Justice of the European Communities shall have
to be adopted for establishing and implementing the             jurisdiction pursuant to an arbitration clause contained in
Agency's budget.                                                a contract concluded by the Agency.
                                                                2.    In the case of non-contractual liability, the Agency
                        Article 16                              shall, in accordance with the general principles common
The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the            to the laws of the Member States, make good any
European Communities shall apply to the Agency.                 damages caused by it or by its servants in the exercise of
                                                                their duties.
                                                                The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in any
                        Article 17
                                                                disputes relating to compensation for such damages.
1.    The staff of the Agency shall be subject to the
administrative rules and regulations applicable to the          3.    The personal liability of its servants towards the
officials  and other servants of the European                   Agency shall be governed by the provisions applicable to
Communities.                                                    the Agency's personnel.
2.    With regard to its personnel, the Agency shall have                                Article 19
the powers conferred upon it by the appointing
authority.                                                      This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth
                                                                day following its publication in the Official Journal of the
                                                                European Communities.
3.    The Administrative Board, in agreement with the
Commission, shall lay down appropriate rules of                 This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
application.                                                    directly applicable in all Member States.