Brussels, 16/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - According to John Monks, General Secretary of the ETUC, the European Parliament's decision to call on the Commission to revise the working hours directive on the risks to health and safety caused by long working hours (EUROPE 12 February p 16) is "a very useful decision.". Monks added that, "the European Parliament has given a notice that the opt-out is not a solution for problems linked to on-call works in the health sector and that it should quickly disappear. The Commission is asked now to better assess the real needs and come up with adequate proposals for a long term and lasting response and should include the social partners in that process". To see John Monks criticism of Tony Blair's government on this issue, see EUROPE 11 February p 17.