Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

We align with the IMEC statement.

The Candidate Countries Albania*, Moldova, the Republic of North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia* and Ukraine, the potential candidate country Georgia, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

1. The European Union and its Member States have strongly supported the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which became a reality at the 110th session of the International Labour Conference thanks to the constructive collaboration of all constituents. Over the preceding years, we whole-heartedly supported this process and are honoured to have played an active part in this historical achievement of the ILO.
2. We thank the Office for the paper. The EU and its Member States stand ready and are committed to support all the necessary steps to follow up on the amendment to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which also recognises two occupational safety and health Conventions - the Occupational Safety and Health Convention No. 155 and Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention No. 187 – as fundamental.
3. We take note that there is a need for a limited number of technical amendments to existing standards to reflect this new category of fundamental principles and rights at work and to align the terminology accordingly through the formal adoption of these revisions by the Conference. Given the purely formal nature of the proposed revisions and based on past experiences, we support placing an item on the agenda of 111th Session (2023) of the International Labour Conference concerning the adoption of said Convention and Recommendation with a view to introducing amendments of 15 instruments, consequential to the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment. The Office will then circulate a report by 31 December 2022 inviting comments from constituents by 30 March 2023.
4. To ensure a prompt entry into force and broad ratification, we also support tabling a resolution encouraging the aforementioned.
5. In respect of the consequential amendments to the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy we support aligning the MNE Declaration with the amended 1998 Declaration as proposed by the Office and as reflected in the paper.
6. The recognition of two occupational safety and health Conventions as fundamental has certain implications for the recurrent discussions on strategic objectives under the follow-up to the 2008 Declaration. We would like to thank the Office for the proposed options for the way ahead. The EU and its Member States consider that it is important to find an arrangement that is practicable and one that ensures that the link of occupational safety and health to the strategic objective on social protection is maintained. Therefore, while we remain flexible on the practical arrangements, we would like to insist that in the context of recurrent discussions, OSH is not fully decoupled from the social protection pillar.
7. In respect of reporting arrangements, we support the necessary steps to be taken as proposed in points (d) and (e) of the draft decision point, including applying a three-year cycle to reports requested under Article 22 of the ILO Constitution for Conventions 155 and 187, commencing in 2024.
8. We fully share the view that the decision to include a safe and healthy working environment as fundamental principle and right at work presents an important opportunity to increase the ratification rates of Conventions 155 and 187 and to improve occupational safety and health at work at national and global levels. Therefore, we support the efforts in respect of revising and updating the Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health and request the Office to take the suggested steps in accordance with point (f) of the draft decision point.
9. Chair, with the comments provided above, we support the decision point as amended by ASPAG.

Thank you, Chair.

*Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.