A3-0292/94

Resolution on the submission of the European Parliament to the World Health Organization's European Conference on environment and health

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Collins, Mrs Schleicher, Sir James Scott-Hopkins and Mr Iversen on the environment and health (B3-0227/90),

-having regard to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, in particular Article 100a and Articles 3(o), 129, and 130r to 130t thereof,

-having regard to the conclusions of the first European Conference of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the environment and health, held from 7 to 9 December 1989 in Frankfurt, and awaiting further conclusions from the Second European Conference of the WHO on the environment and health scheduled for June 1994 in Helsinki,

-having regard to its resolution of 19 November 1993 on public health policy after Maastricht, following the public hearing of 3 June 1993,

-having regard to the restrictions imposed by the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Community and the Member States on the marketing and use of dangerous substances and preparations,

-having regard to the strategy on health policy for the Union set out by the Commission in COM(93)0559 of 24 November 1993,

-having regard to the Fifth Environment Programme of the European Union calling for further research on the links between the environment and health,

-having regard to the conclusions of the Council of 13 December 1993 agreeing to set up an epidemiological network in the Community,

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection (A3-0292/94),

A.whereas there is growing emphasis on the environment at Union level and the role accorded to the European Parliament by the Treaties in this area,

B.having regard to the effects which certain types of environmental damage (ozone depletion, greenhouse effect, rising sea level, climatic change, erosion of the countryside and the soil, and waste) may have on human health,

C.whereas environmental pollution or damage may harbour genetic risks and may ultimately lead to changes in human hereditary characteristics,

D.whereas provisions on environmental protection must continually be adjusted to take account of the current state of scientific and technical progress,

E.whereas the environmental policy of the European Union is based on the principle that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source and that the polluter should pay,

F.whereas nothing in this life is free from risk, in environmental policy as in other areas,

G.whereas the risks to the environment and to health vary in their seriousness and whereas measures taken must respect the proportionality principle, in other words they must be necessary and appropriate to achieve the desired end,

H.whereas it seems desirable that political leaders should be provided with the tools to help them assess the value of, inter alia, the conclusions of major epidemiological research, and make them available and comprehensible to the public,

I.whereas unconfirmed epidemiological data may create insecurity and provoke inappropriate reactions both among the general public and from representatives of the national health agencies, which may have grave consequences for society,

J.whereas particular attention must be paid to monitoring chemical and radioactive substances which are manufactured or used by people and can pollute or damage the environment and eventually affect people's own health,

K.whereas there is increasing evidence to show that there are links between quality of life and health,

L.whereas cases in which there is the possibility of mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic effects (i.e. agents or pollutants altering a gene, affecting an unborn foetus or creating cancer cells) must be assessed not only on the basis of bioindicators but also on a specific risk evaluation,

M.whereas human beings spend on average 80% of their day inside buildings; whereas air conditioning equipment is in widespread use, and whereas research in this field of air pollution in enclosed indoor spaces, particularly on illnesses which may be caused by air conditioning systems in enclosed spaces ('Sick Building Syndrome, Building-Related Illness') is essential,

N.whereas scientists are currently discussing a link between air pollutants (e.g. diesel exhaust fumes) and respiratory tract infections,

1.Calls for the principle of proportionality (cost-benefit ratio) to be observed in implementing the objectives of environmental and health policy;

2.Calls for research on mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic substances to place more emphasis on an assessment of all the known health risks;

3.Calls for research to be stepped up on the potential health risks of new chemical substances before they come into contact with people (predictive toxicology);

4.Calls for a self-critical reconsideration of environmental and health policy in the assessment of 'minimum risks';

5.Calls over and above the existing provisions in this area, for the further development of a preventive strategy on cancer and other diseases, and in particular for research to be carried out on the possible effects of newly developed chemicals on the incidence of all kinds of illnesses as a result of contact at the workplace or elsewhere in the human environment;

6.Calls for more intensive and wide-ranging research on links between human habitual behaviour, poor diet and the health consequences, particularly cancer which may ensue from them;

7.Calls for closer examination of the links between death from cancer - particularly the different levels of mortality for men and women - and living and working conditions in the regions of Europe;

8.Calls for environmental and health policies to concentrate on staving off or removing significant risks by means of systematic methods based on prior risk analysis and assessment, e.g. by testing existing limit values and developing new ones;

9.Calls for increased research into the significance of the human immune system's defences against environmental pollution;

10.Calls for public anxiety (stress) to be alleviated by taking a forward-looking, pragmatic approach in biotechnical research which ensures that those in authority take account of people's justified fears and dispel those which are unjustified through transparency and information measures;

11.Calls for the intensification of sociological research into the links between dissatisfaction with one's life and work and the incidence of cancer and other diseases;

12.Calls for a responsible assessment of the results of toxicological and epidemiological (medical statistical) research to prevent confusion among the general public and to ensure the effectiveness of public health measures;

13.Calls for the systematic promotion of epidemiological health research - provided the underlying data are made public - in future to enable political decisions to be taken on the basis of reliable data;

14.Calls for comparable epidemiological and toxicological data to be compiled and for cross-border data exchange to be promoted in Europe, particularly long-term cooperation between the EU's Environment Agency and the European Regional Office of the World Health Organisation, and welcomes the international exchange of data and statistics in the environment and health fields;

15.Calls for the well-balanced instruction of the public both on the responsible use of stimulants and on how to interact with the environment so as to preserve the human habitat;

16.Calls for support for measures to improve preventive health care;

17.Calls for doctors to be given further training in the field of environmental medicine;

18.Welcomes the adoption of the European Charter for the Environment and Health, which forms a first step towards closer cooperation between the 32 Member States of the WHO's Europe region in this field;

19.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the WHO Conference on environment and health, the Commission, the Council and the governments of the Member States.