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DRAFT REPORT (COM(2025)0418 – C100180/2025 – 2025/0232(COD))

On the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/37/EC as regards the addition of substances and setting limit values in its Annexes I, III and IIIa

EMPL-PR-781362

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs · Rapporteur: Liesbet Sommen

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Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

This is the rapporteur's draft report on the Commission proposal to amend Directive 2004/37/EC by adding substances and setting limit values in its Annexes I, III and IIIa. It proposes binding occupational exposure limit values for cobalt and inorganic cobalt compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, isoprene and 1,4-dioxane, and adds welding fumes to Annex I. It adds new recitals on support for microenterprises and SMEs, on cobalt's strategic role, on data collection, on combined exposure, on firefighters and on gender-specific differences. It amends definitions in Article 2, adds a right to breaks when wearing protective equipment, and requires the Commission to re-evaluate the cobalt limit value.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes to adopt Parliament's first-reading position with amendments based on the ACSH opinion: binding limit values for cobalt and inorganic cobalt compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, isoprene and 1,4-dioxane, inclusion of welding fumes, support for SMEs, and protection for firefighters.

Key points

  1. Amends Recital 2 to refer to substances and mixtures meeting carcinogen, mutagen or reprotoxic criteria and to require robust scientific evidence for additions.
  2. Amends Recital 3 to include work involving exposure to fumes from welding and from processes generating fumes in a similar way in Annex I.
  3. Amends Recital 6 so that limit values of 0,02 mg/m³ (inhalable fraction) and 0,0042 mg/m³ (respirable fraction) apply for cobalt and its inorganic compounds.
  4. Amends Recital 9 to set a long- and short-term occupational exposure limit value of 7,3 mg/m³ (2 ppm) and 73 mg/m³ (20 ppm) for 1,4-dioxane, with a skin notation and a biological limit value of 45 mg HEAA in urine/g creatinine.
  5. Adds recitals requiring Member States to assess the impact on microenterprises and SMEs and to publish the results, and allowing financial and administrative support.
  6. Adds recitals on cobalt's strategic importance, on avoiding relocation of cobalt-processing enterprises to third countries, and on possible targeted and limited exemptions for substances essential to the Union's strategic interests.
  7. Adds recitals requiring the Commission to develop guidelines for data collection, to keep limit values under review at least every five years, and to take account of combined effects of substances.
  8. Adds a recital clarifying that the limit value for mercury and divalent inorganic mercury compounds applies only to those falling within the scope of Directive 2004/37/EC.
  9. Adds a recital setting a long-term occupational exposure limit value of 8,5 mg/m³ (3 ppm) for isoprene.
  10. Adds recitals requiring employers of firefighters and emergency services personnel to assess exposure risks and take protective measures, and requiring training to be adapted to new or changed risks.
  11. Adds a recital requiring the Commission to integrate the gender dimension in assessments of future revisions of the Directive.
  12. Amends Article 2 definitions of substance, mixture or process and of reprotoxic substance, adds a right to proportionate and regular breaks when wearing protective equipment, and requires the Commission to evaluate the cobalt limit value and, where appropriate, propose a legislative proposal to lower it.

Who is affected

  • Workers exposed to carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances, who gain new limit values and a right to breaks when wearing protective equipment.
  • Employers, including those of firefighters and emergency services personnel, who must assess exposure risks and apply protective measures.
  • Microenterprises and SMEs, for which Member States must assess impacts and may provide financial and administrative support.
  • Cobalt-processing enterprises, which should not relocate to third countries with less stringent occupational safety and health regulations.

Figures and deadlines

  • 0,02 mg/m³ (inhalable fraction) and 0,0042 mg/m³ (respirable fraction): limit values for cobalt and its inorganic compounds.
  • 7,3 mg/m³ (2 ppm) and 73 mg/m³ (20 ppm): long- and short-term occupational exposure limit values for 1,4-dioxane.
  • 45 mg HEAA in urine/g creatinine: biological limit value for 1,4-dioxane, measured at the end of exposure or shift.
  • 8,5 mg/m³ (3 ppm): long-term occupational exposure limit value for isoprene.
  • At least every five years: frequency for reviewing the limit values established in the Directive.
  • Four years after the date of entry into force of this amending Directive: deadline for the Commission to evaluate the cobalt limit value.
  • About 120,000 work-related cancer cases and approximately 80,000 fatalities annually in the EU from exposure to carcinogens at work.
  • 28 cancer-causing substances: number now addressed by the carcinogens and mutagens directive after five reviews.

Legal basis: Article 294(2) and Article 153(1) and (2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.