Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs of The Parliamentary Assembly of The Council of Europe (CoE), Resolution 1430 (2005) – Industrial hazards – (Rapporteur: Svetlana Smirnova, Doc. 10457, Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 18 March 2005) |
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Some industrial plants, by the nature of their activities and the substances they use, constitute hazards which are all the greater when they are located close to residential areas for these and their residents are particularly exposed in the event of an accident. The Toulouse explosion of 2001 tragically demonstrated the need to leave sufficient distance between any site used for potentially dangerous activities and residential areas. International (International Labour Organisation, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) and European (“Seveso” Directives) legislation exist in the field but it is not yet ratified or implemented by all the Council of Europe member states. Important differences still exist in Europe between national legislation on industrial plants. The report encourages the member states of the Council of Europe to update national legislation on the prevention and limitation of industrial hazards, especially in residential areas, to develop transfrontier co-operation and to harmonise relevant spatial planning policies.
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