France: Text Adopted by the Senate for Better Regulation of Electromagnetic Waves

The draft text also aims to render
obligatory in primary schools the
deactivating of wireless equipment
when not being used for pedagogical
activities.

Text Adopted by the Senate for better regulation of electromagnetic waves
SudOuest.fr, avec AFP, 26 June 2014 (translated by the Editor of this blog)

The official text of the draft law is available here in French.

The Senate adopted Wednesday a text for better regulation of exposure of people to electromagnetic waves

The Senate adopted at first reading on Wednesday [25 June 2014] the draft law of the Ecologists for better regulation of exposure to electromagnetic waves, which affects in particular users of cell phones.

163 senators voted in favor of the text and 149 against. From the left, socialists, ecologists and communists voted in favor. In contrast, the RDSE group (majority PRG – Radical Party of the Left) opposed it, as did the UMP (Union for a Popular Movement). All the centrists abstained. The draft law must go to the National Assembly for a second reading where it had been adopted on 23 January this year.

Its objective is to set in stone the principle of “sobriété” [translated: “circumstance moderateness”] regarding exposure to waves from cell phones, Wi-Fi routers and relay antennas, and not a “principle of precaution” as the ecologists had proposed in an initial text a year ago. It foresees, among other things, coordination on several levels during installation of radioelectric equipment and better information on emission sources, and bans advertising for tablets destined for those under 14 years of age (at risk of a 75,000-euro fine), as is already the case for cell phones.

The senators completed it by adopting notably Chantal Jouanno’s amendment (UDI-UC) banning advertising for cell phones lacking headsets and another by Joël Labbé (Ecologist) aimed to render obligatory, in primary schools, the deactivating of wireless equipment when not being used for pedagogical activities.

The text also requests a report on electrohypersensitivity (intolerance to electromagnetic fields from which certain people suffer) from the Government.

The principal source of exposure, according to the national Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), is “by far” the cell phone. ANSES encourages as a rule “limiting exposure of the population”, particularly intensive users and children, whose cranium is thinner. The use of a headset reduces exposure by at least a factor of 10.

Original article in French:
http://www.sudouest.fr/2014/06/26/ondes-electromagnetiques-un-texte-adopte-au-senat-pour-mieux-les-encadrer-1597713-4696.php