Under the Treaty, the European Parliament and the Council may, by means of directives, adopt minimum requirements for the encouragement of improvements, in particular of the working environment, to guarantee a better level of protection of the health and safety of workers. Such directives are to avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings.

Article 31(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provides that every worker has the right to working conditions which respect his or her health, safety and dignity.

The Commission examined attentively the arguments put forward by stakeholders and, after several consultations, decided to thoroughly reconsider some provisions of Directive 2004/40/EC on the basis of new scientific information produced by internationally recognised experts.

Directive 2004/40/EC should be repealed and more appropriate and proportionate measures to protect workers from the risks associated with electromagnetic fields should be introduced. That Directive did not address the long-term effects, including the possible carcinogenic effects, of exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields, for which there is currently no conclusive scientific evidence establishing a causal relationship. This Directive is intended to address all known direct biophysical effects and indirect effects caused by electromagnetic fields, in order not only to ensure the health and safety of each worker on an individual basis, but also to create a minimum basis of protection for all workers in the Union, while reducing possible distortions of competition.

This Directive does not address suggested long-term effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields, since there is currently no well-established scientific evidence of a causal relationship. However, if such well-established scientific evidence emerges, the Commission should consider the most appropriate means for addressing such effects, and should, through its report on the practical implementation of this Directive, keep the European Parliament and Council informed in this regard. In doing so, the Commission should, in addition to the appropriate information that it receives from Member States, take into account the latest available research and new scientific knowledge arising from the data in this area.

Minimum requirements should be laid down, thereby giving Member States the option of maintaining or adopting more favourable provisions for the protection of workers, in particular by fixing lower values for the action levels (ALs) or the exposure limit values (ELVs) for electromagnetic fields. However, the implementation of this Directive should not serve to justify any regression in relation to the situation already prevailing in each Member State.

The system of protection against electromagnetic fields should be limited to a definition, which should be free of excessive detail, of the objectives to be attained, the principles to be observed and the fundamental values to be applied, in order to enable Member States to apply the minimum requirements in an equivalent manner.

In order to protect workers exposed to electromagnetic fields it is necessary to carry out an effective and efficient risk assessment. However, this obligation should be proportional to the situation encountered at the workplace. Therefore, it is appropriate to design a protection system that groups different risks in a simple, graduated and easily understandable way. Consequently, the reference to a number of indicators and standard situations, to be provided by practical guides, can usefully assist employers in fulfilling their obligations.

The undesired effects on the human body depend on the frequency of the electromagnetic field or radiation to which it is exposed. Therefore, exposure limitation systems need to be exposure-pattern and frequency dependent in order to adequately protect workers exposed to electromagnetic fields.

The level of exposure to electromagnetic fields can be more effectively reduced by incorporating preventive measures into the design of workstations and by giving priority, when selecting work equipment, procedures and methods, to reducing risks at source. Provisions relating to work equipment and methods thereby contribute to the protection of the workers involved. There is, however, a need to avoid duplication of assessments where work equipment meets the requirements of relevant Union law on products that establishes stricter safety levels than those provided for by this Directive. This allows for simplified assessment in a large number of cases.

Employers should make adjustments in the light of technical progress and scientific knowledge regarding the risks related to exposure to electromagnetic fields, with a view to improving the safety and health protection of workers.

The physical quantities, ELVs and ALs, laid down in this Directive are based on the recommendations of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and should be considered in accordance with ICNIRP concepts, save where this Directive specifies otherwise.

In order to ensure that this Directive remains up-to-date, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of purely technical amendments of the Annexes, to reflect the adoption of regulations and directives in the field of technical harmonisation and standardisation, technical progress, changes in the most relevant standards or specifications and new scientific findings concerning hazards presented by electromagnetic fields, as well as to adjust ALs. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing-up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.

In exceptional cases, where imperative grounds of urgency so require, such as possible imminent risks to workers’ health and safety arising from their exposure to electromagnetic fields, the possibility should be given to apply the urgency procedure to delegated acts adopted by the Commission.

A system including ELVs and ALs, where applicable, should be seen as a means to facilitate the provision of a high level of protection against the adverse health effects and safety risks that may result from exposure to electromagnetic fields. However, such a system may conflict with specific conditions in certain activities, such as the use of the magnetic resonance technique in the medical sector. It is therefore necessary to take those particular conditions into account.

Given the specificities of the armed forces and in order to allow them to operate and interoperate effectively, including in joint international military exercises, Member States should be able to implement equivalent or more specific protection systems, such as internationally agreed standards, for example NATO standards, provided that adverse health effects and safety risks are prevented.

Employers should be required to ensure that risks arising from electromagnetic fields at work are eliminated or reduced to a minimum. It is nevertheless possible that in specific cases and in duly justified circumstances, the ELVs set out in this Directive are only temporarily exceeded. In such a case, employers should be required to take the necessary actions in order to return to compliance with the ELVs as soon as possible.

A system ensuring a high level of protection as regards the adverse health effects and safety risks that may result from exposure to electromagnetic fields should take due account of specific groups of workers at particular risk and avoid interference problems with, or effects on the functioning of, medical devices such as metallic prostheses, cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators, cochlear implants and other implants or medical devices worn on the body. Interference problems, especially with pacemakers, may occur at levels below the ALs and should therefore be the object of appropriate precautions and protective measures,