Asbestos exposure

7.3.2016

Question for written answer E-002004-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Pedro Silva Pereira (S&D)

The presence of asbestos in many public buildings is still a problem all over the EU. Several governments, including Portugal’s, have been striving to tackle this problem, but they are hampered by a lack of resources for large-scale asbestos removal.

In February 2015, the Economic and Social Council (ESC) published an opinion on this subject. The ESC’s demand could not have been clearer: ‘the total removal of all used asbestos and all asbestos containing products has to be a priority target of the European Union’. In that document, ESC proposes, amongst other future measures, that ‘the European Commission should consider opening access to its structural funds explicitly for asbestos removal plans’.

What steps has the Commission taken and/or does it intend to take to eliminate asbestos exposure within the EU once and for all? Specifically, will it follow up on the ESC’s suggestions, particularly on using the Structural Funds for that purpose, and under what terms?