Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Whereas a ‘Group of Senior Labour Inspectors’ has informally been in operation since 1982;

Whereas the Commission communication^f1 on its programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at work envisages the formalization of regular meetings of this Group;

Whereas the Council conclusions of 21 December 1992 on the effective implementation and enforcement of Community legislation in the area of social affairs^f2 invite the Member States and the Commission to encourage and support continued close cooperation between members of the Group, with due regard to the principle of subsidiarity;

Whereas the Commission communication^f3 on its programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at work provides for the formalization of the ‘Group of Senior Labour Inspectors’ as a Committee;

Whereas the Council resolution of 16 June 1994 on the development of administrative cooperation on the implementation and enforcement of Community legislation in the internal market^f4 develops an approach to administrative cooperation between the Member States and between these and the Commission, based on obligations of mutual assistance and transparency and on the principles of proportionality and confidentiality;

Whereas this approach should also be adopted in implementing and enforcing Community social legislation in the field of health and safety at work in particular as stated in the Commission’s White Paper on European social policy (§ 10B) and the medium Term Social Action Programme;

Whereas the identification, analysis and resolution of practical problems related to implementing, and monitoring the enforcement of, secondary Community legislation on health and safety at work fall mainly within the competence of national labour inspection services and require close cooperation between those services and the Commission;

Whereas the ‘Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors’, by virtue of its long experience, constitutes an appropriate framework for monitoring, on the basis of close cooperation between its members and the Commission, the effective and equivalent enforcement of secondary Community law on health and safety at work, and for the rigorous analysis of the practical questions involved in monitoring the enforcement of legislation in this field;

Whereas this Decision does not conflict with the obligations of the Member States arising under the ILO Labour Inspection Convention of 11 July 1947 (No 81),

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: