The latest Euronews' Real Economy episode zooms onto the European Pillar of Social Rights principle 10: a 'healthy, safe and well-adapted work environment', and puts the Commission’s proposal to reduce the professional exposure limit to asbestos fibres into the context of Europe’s climate ambitions.

The need to renovate 35 million buildings by 2030, means potentially exposing many workers to carcinogenic asbestos, which is why action at EU level is urgent.

Euronews travels to France where proposed 10-times stricter occupational exposure limit to asbestos is already a reality, to discover what it means for those on the frontline of asbestos removal.

Training is fundamental

'Training is fundamental,' says Olivier Heaulme, Director of professional risk management company Aléa Contrôles. 'Without training, you can't protect yourself from asbestos. It makes workers aware of the risks.'

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) can support structural reforms for equipping workers handling asbestos with new and additional skills and support their lifelong learning. In 2015-2017 for instance, a practical course for young construction workers by the Institute for Building Sector Training in Luxembourg, co-funded by the ESF, included a training course on the removal of solid asbestos.

The European Year of Skills puts skills centre-stage. Helping people get the right skills for quality jobs and helping companies, in particular small and medium enterprises, address skills shortages in the EU is what this Year is all about.

Real Economy also interviews William Cockburn, Interim Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in Bilbao, who says the proposal of the Commission to reduce the exposure level needs to be seen in a wider context and points out that costs linked to a strong legislation pale into insignificance when compared with the savings for society.

Next steps

For the new limit to be compulsory across Europe, the Parliament and the Council of the European Union will have to reach an agreement, to help better protect workers against cancer.