RECOMMENDATION FOR SECOND READING on the Council common position for adopting a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work

7.11.2008 - (9815/3/2008 – C6‑0343/2008 – 2007/0020(COD)) - ***II

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Rapporteur: Karin Scheele

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the Council common position for adopting a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work

(9815/3/2008 – C6‑0343/2008 – 2007/0020(COD))

(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Council common position (9815/3/2008 – C6‑0343/2008),

–   having regard to its position at first reading[1] on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2007)0046),

–   having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (A6‑0425/2008),

1.  Approves the common position;

2.  Notes that the act is adopted in accordance with the common position;

3.  Instructs its President to sign the act with the President of the Council pursuant to Article 254(1) of the EC Treaty;

4.  Instructs its Secretary-General to sign the act, once it has been verified that all the procedures have been duly completed, and, in agreement with the Secretary-General of the Council, to have it published in the Official Journal of the European Union;

5.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

• [1]  Texts adopted , P6_T6(2007)0501.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The proposed regulation aims at establishing a framework for a systematic production of Community statistics in two areas, public health and health and safety at work. The statistics should take the form of a harmonised and common data set and be produced by Eurostat together with the national statistical institutes and other national authorities responsible for the provision of official statistics.

At the moment, statistical information on public health and health and safety at work are collected mainly on voluntary basis. The adoption of this regulation will formalise the current 'gentlemen's agreement' and guarantee the continuity of data collection as well as the quality and comparability of data.

First reading

Public health falls under the competence of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Health and safety at work falls, however, under the competence of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. Consequently, rule 47 (procedure with associated committees) was applied to the proposal in first reading, giving the Employment Committee a say, in particular, on Annex IV (Accidents at work) and Annex V (Occupational diseases and other work-related health problems and illnesses). Neither the lead committee nor the opinion-giving committee proposed radical changes to the Commission text.

In first reading in November 2007, the European Parliament adopted 12 amendments to the Commission proposal. Most of the amendments dealt with horizontal issues, like the inclusion of gender and age in the breakdown variables and the use of additional and complementary financing provided by certain Community programmes in the two areas covered by the regulation. Parliament also called for the coordination of Community statistical activities with those of relevant international organisations. Some amendments were adopted to the annexes dealing exclusively either with public health or health and safety at work, such as the collection of data on the protection against pandemics and transmissible diseases.

In subsequent negotiations with the Slovenian Presidency almost all amendments adopted by the European Parliament were agreed to be incorporated in the common position, either fully or in a slightly modified form. The Council also made some other changes to the text but in broad terms, these changes were acceptable to the rapporteur and the shadow rapporteurs. Therefore, they were able to agree on the whole text presented by the Presidency last spring. This 'early second reading agreement' was confirmed by a letter by the chairman of the Environment Committee, Mr Ouzký, to the Slovenian Presidency.

Rapporteur's position

Since the common position adopted by the Council on 2 October 2008 corresponds to the early second agreement reached with the Slovenian Presidency in spring 2008, your rapporteur recommends to the committee its adoption without amendments and without further delay.

PROCEDURE

Title	Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work
References	09815/3/2008 – C6-0343/2008 – 2007/0020(COD)
Date of Parliament’s first reading – P number	13.11.2007                     T6-0501/2007
Commission proposal	COM(2007)0046 - C6-0062/2007
Date receipt of common position announced in plenary	9.10.2008
Committee responsible        Date announced in plenary	ENVI 9.10.2008
Rapporteur(s)        Date appointed	Karin Scheele 27.2.2007
Date adopted	5.11.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	47 1 0
Members present for the final vote	Adamos Adamou, Georgs Andrejevs, Margrete Auken, Liam Aylward, Pilar Ayuso, Johannes Blokland, John Bowis, Hiltrud Breyer, Magor Imre Csibi, Avril Doyle, Mojca Drčar Murko, Edite Estrela, Anne Ferreira, Karl-Heinz Florenz, Matthias Groote, Françoise Grossetête, Satu Hassi, Gyula Hegyi, Jens Holm, Christa Klaß, Urszula Krupa, Marios Matsakis, Riitta Myller, Miroslav Ouzký, Vladko Todorov Panayotov, Vittorio Prodi, Frédérique Ries, Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, Guido Sacconi, Daciana Octavia Sârbu, Carl Schlyter, Horst Schnellhardt, Antonios Trakatellis, Thomas Ulmer, Glenis Willmott
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Bairbre de Brún, Milan Gaľa, Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Karsten Friedrich Hoppenstedt, Anne Laperrouze, Johannes Lebech, Caroline Lucas, Miroslav Mikolášik, Hartmut Nassauer, Bart Staes, Robert Sturdy, Lambert van Nistelrooij
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote	Britta Thomsen