Today’s news / European Parliament – asbestos

European Parliament – asbestos

A new asbestos directive was adopted by the European Parliament on Tuesday after a vote in Strasbourg. This pleases Social Democratic MEP Marianne Vind: “Today’s adoption is very good news for employees across Europe. Indeed, the problem of asbestos remains a major challenge. In Denmark, asbestos leads to more than 300 deaths a year, and across the EU, between four and seven million Europeans have been exposed to asbestos.” 90 000 people die every year from asbestos-related diseases in the EU. Red-Green Alliance MEP Nikolaj Villumsen believes that the new reform will save lives. “I am frankly very proud that we have succeeded. When I started in the European Parliament four years ago, there was no talk of asbestos, even though tens of thousands die every year.” The directive reduces the EU limit for asbestos in the working environment from 100,000 fibres per cubic metre to 2,000 fibres per cubic metre over a period of six years. In Denmark, the limit is already 3,000 fibres per cubic metre./ritzau/