154th CoR Plenary Session (15 - 16 March)

Rapporteur: ZDANOWSKA Hanna, Commission: SEDEC

The IA provides a well-evidenced description of the problem and its scale and sufficiently substantiates the need to lower the current EU occupational exposure level for asbestos. However, the IA could have explained the evaluation findings in more detail and clarified the problem drivers further. The IA clearly explains the scientific opinion of the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC), according to which there is no safe exposure level and therefore the RAC did not recommend any specific OEL. The IA describes different OEL options, but does not explain to what extent the options differ, for example, in terms of risk management measures. The IA justifies the preferred option for example by the efficiency aspects (cost/benefit ratio). In the effectiveness analysis, the IA finds that the preferred option is the best one, as it is supported by employers' and government interest groups, and therefore 'offers the best balance between prevention and practical implementation'.

Asbestos is one of the main causes of work-related types of cancer in the EU. More specifically, asbestos-related risks are set to pose a major challenge in the context of the upcoming European Green Deal 'renovation wave', during which it is expected that millions of buildings will be renovated or demolished. In 2009, the EU adopted Directive 2009/148/EC, the Asbestos at Work Directive (AWD), in order to protect workers from and prevent their exposure to asbestos-related health risks, including by setting the EU occupational exposure limit (OEL). While noting substantial data gaps, a 2017 European Commission ex-post evaluation found that the AWD had been effective and remained relevant.

Asbestos is responsible for more than half of the deaths from occupational cancer in the world. Since 2005 Asbestos is banned in Europe. The risks remain, because of the maintenance or demolition work on older buildings and their renovation (increasing energy efficiency) result in substantial exposure to asbestos and many people still work and live in asbestos contaminated buildings.

The European Green Deal aims at a greener and decarbonised society with less energy-consuming and healthier buildings. Existing buildings play a key role in achieving this long-term goal, as they are old, deemed as energy inefficient and the majority do not provide a healthy indoor environment. The building stock should undergo a renovation wave adopting the deep renovation concept. The Energy Performance of Building Directive 2010/31/EU (EPBD) frames the concept of deep renovation going beyond energy upgrades and asks Member States to enhance the quality of the indoor climate also through the removal of harmful materials commonly used in buildings in the 20th century, such as asbestos.

On 28 September 2022, the European Commission published its proposal for a revision of the Directive on the protection of workers from the risk of exposure to asbestos. The aim of the proposal is to lower the occupational exposure limit value (OEL), which is mandatory in all Member States and has remained unchanged since 2003. It would be reduced from 0.1 fibres/cm³ (100,000 fibres/m³) to 0.01 fibres/m³ (10,000 fibres/m³).
Despite the total ban on the use of asbestos in the EU in 2005, exposure to this carcinogenic fibre, which is still present in millions of buildings, kills more than 90,000 people a year in Europe, the vast majority being workers suffering from mesothelioma or lung cancer.

Faced with an energy crisis, Europe is redoubling efforts to renovate its building stock but this risks releasing asbestos, a cancer-causing substance, which is putting the lives of construction workers at risk.
In this special report, EURACTIV looks at the state of play when it comes to tackling asbestos in the construction sector and the way forward to protect workers’ health.