EU court adviser backs Britain on health, safety

LUXEMBOURG, Jan 18 (Reuters) A European Commission case against the way that Britain implements European Union health and safety rules should be dismissed, an adviser to the top EU court said today.

The EU executive took Britain to the court, arguing that British rules allowed employers to escape responsibility if they could prove that taking measures would be disproportionate to the risk.

''In my view, various factors drawn both from a literal and historical reading of the provision at issue argue against interpreting it in accordance with the Commission's arguments,'' Paolo Mengozzi, Advocate General to the European Court of Justice, said in a statement.

The full court backs an advocate general's opinion in more than half of all cases.

Mengozzi said even if the full court did not agree with his opinion, the Commission still had to prove its case as there were many ways in which EU states can make employers liable for breaches of health and safety.

Mengozzi said the EU executive only focused on criminal liability, but infringements could also be dealt with under civil law. Britain has a general negligence law that could potentially be used to tackle breaches as well, Mengozzi said.

REUTERS SHB HT1520