Brussels, 30/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - In perhaps an admission of powerlessness the European Commission has halted its legislative endeavours on the working time directive. No official decision has yet been made but following the failure of talks between social partners, Laszlo Andor, the commissioner for employment, social affairs and inclusion, admitted on Thursday 30 May that “the time is too short to try anything”.
Although everyone agrees on the need to clarify certain points in existing legislation (Directive 2003/88/EC), the same unanimity is lacking when it comes to choosing what direction should be taken to get to this goal. As is often the case, discussions have foundered on the question of derogations. This includes the issue of flexibility for certain sectors when managing weekly working time (the opt-out clause) and the way in which on-call work should be viewed. Since March 2010, the Commission has made significant efforts to find compromises but it appears that it is now time to admit failure.
Addressing the European Parliament's social affairs committee, Andor asserted that the Commission would no longer be putting forward a legislative proposal, although it would still seek to provide fresh evaluation of the impact of the current directive again this year. (JK/transl.fl)