The S&D welcome that today we can make another step forward in the protection of workers from the exposure to harmful substances, which can cause cancer, infertility, and many chronic diseases.
We are also happy that beating cancer is on top of the European Agenda.
And we expect the Commission and the Member States to be ambitious in their measures against cancer at the workplace and are looking forward to updates of this Directive, because there is a continuous development in scientific research, and we need to make sure that we protect workers accordingly.
And we should not forget about asbestos which is a cause of 80% of occupational cancers. And I remind you that this Parliament has recently adopted a strong resolution on asbestos calling for a European strategy for the removal of all asbestos.
And therefore, we also call today on the Commission to be ambitious and to quickly revise the Asbestos Directive with an exposure limit for asbestos to be set at 1 000 fibres/m3. To achieve a zero asbestos EU, we need a comprehensive approach, including an EU framework directive for national asbestos removal strategies, mandatory screening of buildings, prohibition of sealing and encapsulation of asbestos-containing materials and better recognition and compensation of asbestos-related diseases to all exposed workers. I want to thank all the rapporteurs and colleagues who worked on this important file.
