The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has backed the idea of each Member State handing in a single report on the implementation of the health and safety at work directives. In its response sent to the European Commission on 25 May, the ETUC stresses that the "current system is inadequate" because it provides for publication of reports at different intervals and does not allow the interaction between the directives to be taken into account. The trade union body hopes that having a single report will enable an in-depth evaluation to be done of each Member State's overall health and safety at work strategy.

But the ETUC will not accept a rationalisation that rolls back European OSH legislation. Its response takes a firm stand against any attempt to simplify or unpick the 1989 Framework Directive on promoting workers' safety and health at work. "ETUC's support for the rationalisation of reports is the result of a very different line of thinking to that expressed in the majority of calls for legislative simplification or for better regulation", says the trade body, stressing that the Framework Directive "is a key legal text in the Community acquis (whose) implementation is essential if we are to protect the lives and health of workers". "The managerial requirements it imposes on employers and, to a very minor extent, public authorities are fully justified and in proportion to the desired objectives", adds the ETUC.

• For the full ETUC response