L 42/38 Official Journal of the European Union 15.2.2003 DIRECTIVE 2003/10/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 6 February 2003 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise) (Seventeenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 137(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (%), submitted after consultation with the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work, Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Having consulted the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (°), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 8 November 2002, Whereas: (1) Under the Treaty, the Council may adopt, by means of directives, minimum requirements for encouraging improvements, especially in the working environment, to guarantee a better level of protection of the health and safety of workers. Such directives are to avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and devel- opment of small and medium-sized undertakings. ) While, in accordance with the Treaty, this Directive does not prevent any Member State from maintaining or introducing more stringent protective measures, its implementation should not serve to justify any regres- sion in relation to the situation which already prevails in each Member State. (3)  Council Directive 86/188/EEC of 12 May 1986 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to noise at work (*) made provision for its re-examina- tion by the Council on a proposal from the Commission and with a view to reducing the risks concerned, taking into account in particular progress made in scientific knowledge and technology. (") OJ C77,18.3.1993, p. 12 and OJ C 230, 19.8.1994, p. 3. () O] C 249, 13.9.1993, p. 28. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 20 April 1994 (O] C 128, 9.5.1994, p. 146), confirmed on 16 September 1999 (O] C 54, 25.2.2000, p. 75), Council Common Position of 29 October 2001 (O] CE 45, 19.2.2002, p. 41) and decision of the European Parlia- ment of 13 March 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (*) OJ L 137, 24.5.1986, p. 28. Directive as amended by Directive 98/ 24[EC (O] L 131, 5.5.1998, p. 11). (4) The communication from the Commission on its programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at work (°) provides for the adoption of measures to promote safety at work, particularly with a view to extending the scope of Directive 86/188/EEC and the re- evaluation of the threshold values. The Council, in its resolution of 21 December 1987 on safety, hygiene and health at work (°), took note of this. The communication from the Commission concerning its action programme relating to the implementation of the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers provides for the introduction of minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks caused by physical agents. In September 1990 the European Parliament adopted a resolution concerning this  action programme (’), inviting the Commission in particular to draw up a specific directive on the risks caused by noise and vibration and by any other physical agent at the workplace. As a first step, the European Parliament and the Council adopted on 25 June 2002 Directive 2002/44/EC on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibration) (sixteenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/ EEC) (. As a second step, it is considered appropriate to intro- duce measures protecting workers from the risks arising from noise owing to its effects on the health and safety of workers, in particular damage to hearing. These measures are intended not only to ensure the health and safety of each worker on an individual basis, but also to create a minimum basis of protection for all Community workers in order to avoid possible distortions of compe- tition. Current scientific knowledge of the effects which expo- sure to noise may have on health and safety is not suffi- cient to enable precise exposure levels covering all risks to health and safety, especially as regards the effects of noise other than those of an auditory nature, to be set. 8,3.2.1988, p. 3. 8,3.2.1988, p. 1. 60, 15.10.1990, p. 167. 77,6.7.2002, p. 13. NN =N