Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-10-Speech-3-219"

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"Mr President, a year ago I visited an asbestos factory in Poland where, during the Communist period, it was known that every fourth employee was affected sooner or later by lung or pleural cancer. However, the information was classified, and the factory was only closed after the Communist system had collapsed. There now remains a huge job of cleaning up to be done. Moreover, former employees are in constant anxiety about whether they will be affected by cancer in the future. As I see it, there are three flaws in this otherwise excellent report. First of all, it is proposed that national registers be set up of companies suited to the task of removing asbestos. It would be much better if such companies were to be issued with certificates of competence that could be referred to when contracts were tendered for. Registers are bureaucratic and difficult to manage. Secondly, it is certainly possible to require a reverse burden of proof in the case of suspected asbestos-related illness in the form of asbestosis and mesothelioma but, however, quite possible when it comes to what may be a link between asbestos and bronchial cancer or cancer of the digestive system. Once, perhaps, many years have elapsed following exposure to asbestos, it is not possible to weigh up the role of asbestos against that of smoking and other factors which may have contributed to the illness. On the other hand, the link with asbestosis and mesothelioma is very strong. Thirdly, I shudder, as a doctor, at the thought of the EU’s beginning to lay down criteria for diagnosing illnesses. We have a worldwide system of diagnosis drawn up by the World Health Organisation, and the World Health Organisation ought also therefore to be responsible for assessing this system. If the EU is to establish diagnostic criteria, we are entering the area of health care, and the EU would then quite simply lack the power to decide on legislation."@en1
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