Union fears phone system in Commission poses health risk

Date: 14/03/02

By Peter Chapman

EUROPEAN Commission staff have sharply criticised their bosses for giving the go-ahead for a mobile phone company to install microwave-emitting antennae in offices, canteens and corridors.

Unions say the equipment could pose a cancer risk and claim that they were not consulted.

The network equipment is designed to beef up the signal for Mobistar customers within the Commission's buildings in Brussels, because there were some areas where reception was poor or phone calls could not be received at all.

Experts say the move means subscribers to the operator would not suffer a worse service than those of rivals Proximus and Orange. But staff union TAO-AFI says the Commission's in-house telecoms experts, who are under the management of personnel chief Horst Reichenbach, failed to consult staff about possible health risks before allowing Belgian mobile firm Mobistar to install the equipment, which includes both antennae and cables.

At the same time the union claims managers failed to seek the opinion of the Commission's in-house safety and hygiene committee.

It said work had already caused outrage in the Commission's transport and energy departments - the first to be given the network upgrade. 'If there is a risk, people have not been informed. Why not give information to people who are actually working in these buildings?' said one union official, who asked not to be named.

A senior Reichenbach aide said fears had been stoked up by recent coverage in a French documentary series, Envoyé Spécial, which highlighted inconclusive scientific evidence over potential health risks from mobile phone masts.

However, Commission spokesman Eric Mamer insisted the Union executive had consulted the safety and hygiene committee in March 2001, and it gave a 'positive' opinion on the installation of the type of equipment used by Mobistar.

This opinion, he said, was based on scientific tests at the Commision's Breydel headquarters, using similar technology.

He added that the level of microwave emissions was lower than the strictest safety standards in Europe, which are set by Swiss authorities.

European Commission staff have sharply criticised their bosses for giving the go-ahead for a mobile phone company to install microwave-emitting antennae in offices, canteens and corridors. Unions say the equipment could pose a cancer risk and claim that they were not consulted.