EUROPEAN UION

The European Union is founded on the rule of law. This means that all actions undertaken by the EU are based on treaties, freely and democratically approved by all member states of the EU.

Therefore the rule of law is made by:

  • Directly binding legal acts:
    • regulations: A regulation is a binding legislation. Must be applied in all its entirety across the European Union.
  • acts to be transposed by the Member States:
    • directives: A directive is a legislative act that establishes a goal that all EU countries must achieve. Each country, however, can decide how to proceed.
  • other acts, such as:
    • decisions:
      • a decision binds its recipients (eg. an EU country or an individual company) and is directly applicable
    • recommendations:
      • a recommendation is not binding. A recommendation allows the European institutions to make their views known and to suggest lines of action without imposing legal obligations of recipients.
    • opinions:
      • an opinion is a tool that allows the European institutions to express their views without imposing legal obligations to the recipients. An opinion is not binding. Can be issued from the main EU institutions (Commission, Council, Parliament), the Region Committee and from the European Economic and Social Committee. During the legislative process, the committees deliver opinions that reflect their specific point of view, regional economic and social development.

In addition to the “acts” that constitute the European legislation, EU law is also determined by jurisprudence of the EU that consists in the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which interprets EU legislation.

In terms of security, the European Union stepped in and spoke with two types of measures:

  1. Social (directives)
  2. Products (directives and regulations)

Regulations (directives) social interest are:

  • Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work
  • Particular related directives, are:
    • Council Directive 89/654/EEC – workplace requirements of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace (first individual directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 89/655/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work (second individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) – amended by 2001/45 / EC of 06.27.2001 and replaced by Directive 2009/104 / EC of 16 September 2009;
    • Council Directive 89/656/EEC of 30 November 1989 on the minimum health and safety requirements for the use by workers of personal protective equipment at the workplace (third individual directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 90/269/EEC of 29 May 1990 on the minimum health and safety requirements for the manual handling of loads where there is a risk particularly of back injury to workers (fourth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 90/270/EEC of 29 May 1990 on the minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment (fifth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 97/42/EC of 27 June 1997 amending for the first time Directive 90/394/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work (Sixth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Directive 2000/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to biological agents at work (seventh individual directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 92/57/EEC of 24 June 1992 on the implementation of minimum safety and health requirements at temporary or mobile construction sites (eighth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 92/57/EEC of 24 June 1992 on the minimum requirements for the provision of safety and/or health signs at work (ninth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 92/85/EEC of 19 October 1992 concerning the implementation of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth and women who are breastfeeding (Tenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 92/91/EEC of 3 November 1992 concerning the minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers in the mineral-extracting industries through drilling (eleventh individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 92/104/EEC of 3 December 1992 on the minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers in surface and underground mineral-extracting industries (twelfth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 93/103/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for work on board fishing vessels (thirteenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Council Directive 98/24/EC of 7 April 1998 on the protection of the health and safety of workers from the risks related to chemical agents at work (fourteenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Directive 1999/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1999 on minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres (15th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Directive 2002/44/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of the of 25 June 2002 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibration) (sixteenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Directive 2003/10/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 February 2003 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise) (Seventeenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Directive 2004/40/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields) (18th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) rectified and abrogated
    • Directive 2006/25/EC on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of the workers to risks arising from physical agents (artificial optical radiation, 19th individual directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
    • Directive 2013/35/EU of 26 June 2013 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields) (20th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) and repealing Directive 2004/40/EC

The rules (directives and regulations) of product, as of interest here, are::

  • Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment.
  • Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 of machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast)
  • Regulation (EU) n. 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2011 laying down harmonised conditions of the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC