Rue Royale 45, 1st floor, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Press releases

Vote for the asbestos report!

18/10/2021

On 19 October, the plenary of the European Parliament will vote the legislative report on Protecting Workers from Asbestos. The EFBWW urges the European Parliament to adopt a firm position to protect the health of workers and calls on the Members of the European Parliament to vote for the asbestos report.

The EMPL MEPs already took the first step by agreeing on an ambitious report: They propose a European Strategy for the Removal of All Asbestos (ESRAA) with national asbestos removal programmes and public asbestos registries, support to homeowners, a revision of the EU Asbestos at Work Directive (AWD), better recognition and compensation for asbestos victims, and provisions for safe disposal of asbestos waste. All of this is in line with the EFBWW demands for better EU rules on asbestos.

Now it is time for the European Parliament to do the same and protect workers! EFBWW general secretary, Tom Deleu: “We cannot turn our backs on construction workers, firefighters, miners, and workers in cleaning or waste disposal, who are regularly exposed to asbestos. No one should be exposed to asbestos! Therefore, there is only one way and that is: Vote for the asbestos report!”. In EU 28, 3.17 million people have died in the last 40 years as a consequence of inhaling asbestos fibres. Let us stop this number from rising.

Read the full press release