EU court advisor backs Britain against EU safety claims

(BRUSSELS) - The European Court of Justice's top adviser on Thursday urged that a European Commission charge against Britain over its health and safety rules be dismissed.

The EU's executive arm took the British government to court, claiming that its health and safety rules allowed employers to escape blame if they could prove that taking further safety measures would have been disproportionate to the risk involved.

However court Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi argued in his findings that employers' general duty laid down in European directives does not "require the employer to provide a totally risk-free working environment".

In his published opinion, he said that "it is my view that the Commission's arguments are based on an incorrect interpretation of the framework's directive."

The advocate general also proposed that the Commission be made to pay the costs of the case.

Mengozzi argued that the European Commission had only focused on criminal aspects, ignoring the remedies of civil law for health and safety claims. Britain also has a general negligence law which could be applicable, he added.

The Commission has argued that Britain, in restricting the duty upon employers to ensure the safety and health of workers to a standard of "so far as is reasonably practicable", has failed to fulfill its EU obligations.

The Commission further argues that British legislation permits an employer to escape responsibility if he can prove that the sacrifice involved in taking further measures, whether in money, time or trouble, would be grossly disproportionate to the risk.