Brussels, 27/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 26 February, the European Commission sent Germany a reasoned opinion warning letter over its failure to respect the reference period laid down in EU Directive 2003/88/EC on the working week when calculating the maximum average working week for civil servants.
German rules say that civil servants have a twelve-month reference period for application of the 48-hours cap on the working week, but the EU directive on the working week foresees a standard period of four months or six months in some cases (such as for work characterised by the need to provide continuity of service) or twelve months only when the workers in question have decided in collective bargaining that a twelve-month period shall apply.
This criterion is not respected by the civil service in Germany and the European Commission wrote to Germany about it in an initial warning letter in July 2014. Now that a reasoned opinion has been sent, Berlin has two months to notify the Commission of measures taken to bring its rules into line with EU law, failing which it may be sent to the European Court of Justice. (Jan Kordys)