Directive 2007/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 20 June 2007
amending Council Directive 89/391/EEC, its individual Directives and Council Directives 83/477/EEC, 91/383/EEC, 92/29/EEC and 94/33/EC with a view to simplifying and rationalising the reports on practical implementation
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 137(2) thereof,
Having regard to the Commission’s proposal,
After consulting the Committee of the Regions,
Whereas:
The provisions on the preparation of reports in the individual Directives within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC and in Directives 91/383/EEC, 92/29/EEC and 94/33/EC are inconsistent in terms of both frequency and content.
It is therefore necessary to harmonise the provisions of Directive 89/391/EEC, the individual Directives within the meaning of Article 16(1) thereof and Directives 83/477/EEC, 91/383/EEC, 92/29/EEC and 94/33/EC.
The Commission’s communication ‘Adapting to change in work and society: a new Community strategy for health and safety 2002 to 2006’ provides for the drafting of legislative proposals to simplify and rationalise implementation reports. This matter has also been identified as one of the priorities for the simplification of Community legislation in the context of the Better Lawmaking initiative.
The exercise should be simplified by harmonising the intervals for the submission of the practical implementation reports to the Commission and by requiring a single practical implementation report which would include a general part applicable to all the directives and specific chapters relating to the aspects particular to each directive. These provisions, and, in particular, the introduction of a new Article 17a in Directive 89/391/EEC, will furthermore allow the inclusion in this implementation report exercise of the individual Directives within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC that do not require reports, namely: Directives 2000/54/EC and 2004/37/EC and any future individual directives within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC.
The appropriate frequency for the Member States to draw up these reports and submit them to the Commission should be five years; the first report should, exceptionally, cover a longer period; the structure of the reports should be consistent to facilitate their exploitation; they should be drawn up on the basis of a questionnaire drafted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work and include relevant information on the preventive efforts deployed in the Member States so as to allow the Commission, taking into account any relevant findings of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, to adequately assess how the legislation works in practice.
In accordance with Article 138(2) of the Treaty, the Commission consulted the social partners at Community level on the possible direction of Community action in this field.
Following this consultation, the Commission considered that Community action was desirable and consulted the social partners at Community level again on the content of the envisaged proposal, in accordance with Article 138(3) of the Treaty.
Following this second phase of consultation, the social partners at Community level did not inform the Commission of their wish to initiate the process which could lead to the conclusion of an agreement, as set out in Article 138(4) of the Treaty.
The Member States should take the necessary measures to transpose the modifications provided for by this Directive, which could, in view of the specific nature of this Directive and if appropriate, take the form of administrative measures,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: