BEU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 456: Orientering om afvikling af Peer Review vedrørende håndhævelse af arbejdsmiljøregler og implementering af EU-lovgivningen, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

Beskæftigelsesudvalget 2017-18
BEU Alm.del Bilag 456
Offentligt

Minister for Employment

European Commission

Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs

Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200

1049 Brussels

Belgium

Ved Stranden 8

DK-1061 Copenhagen K

T +45 72 20 50 00

E [email protected]

uk.bm.dk

CBR 10172748

Peer Review on “The efficient

transposition, implementation

and enforcement of EU OSH legislation” –

Next steps

File No.

2017 - 7537

Dear Commissioner Thyssen,

I would like to thank you and your services very much for the fruitful cooperation

regarding the organization of the Peer Review on “The efficient

transposition, im-

plementation and enforcement of EU OSH legislation” held in Denmark in June

2018.

I believe the event gave valuable insights into Member States’ experiences and

practices when implementing and enforcing the EU’s occupational health

and safe-

ty legislation.

I am pleased with the participants’ keen interest in learning about different Member

States’ approaches, including our experiences from Denmark, using evidence based

and data driven analyses in relation to the enforcement of occupational safety and

health legislation.

I am also pleased that our experiences from the work of the Danish Implementation

Committee and Council could act as an inspiration for the participants. As you

know, this has been an important tool in ensuring efficient implementation of EU

regulation and reducing administrative burdens for companies in Denmark.

In fact, as the Peer Review helped shed light on, a concrete outcome of the Imple-

mentation Committee’s work comes from the field of occupational

safety and

health. Following deliberation in the committee we launched a simplification pro-

ject of the Danish regulatory framework for chemicals. The simplification consist-

ed of improving the efficient

transposition of the EU’s occupational safety and

health directives without lowering the level of protection of workers with the over-

all aim of facilitating enterprises’ compliance with the legislation.

The participating Member States also contributed with a number of interesting in-

sights into their approaches to implementing and enforcing occupational safety and

health legislation which I believe can feed into the continued efforts to ensure a

timely and proper implementation and efficient enforcement of safety and health

legislation across the EU.

Looking ahead, the Peer Review has also confirmed my firm belief that the area of

enforcement, in particular, is still in need of further attention from the Commission.

BEU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 456: Orientering om afvikling af Peer Review vedrørende håndhævelse af arbejdsmiljøregler og implementering af EU-lovgivningen, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

As uncovered through concrete examples from the Peer Review and the reports

formulated ahead of it, there still appears to be situations at the national level

where employers are unaware of certain occupational safety and health regulations

let alone aware of what the regulations encompass and which actions need to be

taken to protect the workers.

This, I believe, is a serious concern that requires attention. Not only should we en-

sure that Member States implement EU occupational safety and health rules in a

timely and proper manner. We must also continually and consistently make sure

that the laws are effectively enforced across the EU.

Variation among Member States leads to different levels of protection for workers

as well as to unfair competition between businesses. A level playing field for busi-

nesses is essential to the functioning of the internal market, as you will no doubt

agree. I urge the Commission to focus more on securing effective enforcement

across the EU in this and other areas. It is important that we do not experience

competition or forum shopping on the basis of different levels of enforcement of

e.g. occupational safety and health regulations.

I believe that the Peer Review has therefore given the Member States important

food for thought and underscored that there is still considerable challenges ahead

–

not least in improving enforcement efforts.

While fully acknowledging that enforcement is a Member State competence, I be-

lieve that the Commission should also play its part in contributing to solve the en-

forcement challenge.

The Peer Review, we organized together, is a good example of this and an im-

portant first step. The Commission’s annual report on “Monitoring of Application

of Union Law” is a welcome addition, too, in highlighting how the application of

the common rules to the benefit of fair and equal competition can be improved. But

we must push on.

It is my hope, therefore, that the current as well as the upcoming Commission will

use this occasion to put enforcement efforts higher on the agenda and work for

concrete improvements of education, guidance, mutual learning, cooperation be-

tween stakeholders and other important tools to support businesses in complying

with the rules and improve capacity among labour inspectorates.

I, for one, stand ready to engage further in addressing this challenge and look for-

ward to continuing the dialogue with you and your services when taking the next

steps forward.

BEU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 456: Orientering om afvikling af Peer Review vedrørende håndhævelse af arbejdsmiljøregler og implementering af EU-lovgivningen, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

Yours sincerely,

Troels Lund Poulsen