Brussels, 09/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday in Strasbourg, the European Parliament will be voting in first reading on the report by Alejandro Cercas (PES, Spain) relating to the proposal of directive amending Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certain aspects of working time adjustment. The dossier will then be forwarded to the Employment and Social Affairs Council of 2-3 June in Luxembourg, in the hope of reaching a political agreement. “I am optimistic but I do not think an agreement of this kind will be reached after a first reading”, the rapporteur told the press last Wednesday. Just a few days from the vote, Mr Cercas and the representatives of the European trade union world launched a fervent appeal to MEPs to vote in favour of the report so that the health and safety of workers at their place of work would be respected. Stressing the need to reach a very broad consensus within the EP on the report so that things will start moving, Mr Cercas said he expects the Commission and Council to listen to what citizens and workers have to say, to read the draft Constitution and to understand that the Charter of Fundamental Rights are rights that must be respected. He hopes the Council will give a powerful signal that something must change when it comes to workers' fundamental rights and that one must not play with worker health or with reconciling family and working life. “We won at the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and there is a fair chance we shall win again in Strasbourg”, he added.
“My report runs counter to most of the Commission's proposals”, Alejandro Cercas explained. The disagreement mainly concerns: 1) opt out (renunciation clause allowing employers to agree individually with workers not to apply the 48-hour maximum working limit): The Commission suggests maintaining individual opt out by strengthening the conditions of application when there is or cannot be a collective agreement. The Cercas report calls for this to be abolished; 2) duration of the reference period: the Commission advocates authorising Member States to extend the reference periods to twelve months, on the sole condition that social partners be consulted. It considers calculation of working hours on a yearly basis is acceptable under certain conditions, with control and guarantees regarding health and safety protection; 3) definitions of working time: the Commission considers time on call should not be considered as working time, whereas the Cercas report calls for respect of the Court of Justice rulings whereby entire periods spent on call, albeit inactive, constitute working time. Mr Cercas believes he has the support of the “majority of the PES Group (including British Labour MEPs), about half of the EPP-ED, Liberals and Greens, who will respect the compromise between flexibility and security in the workplace, which Europe needs, but the GUE/NGL for now remains somewhat sceptical” (for details, see EUROPE 8936 and 8933).
“This highly controversial issue is the subject of considerable diplomatic pressure but we can be optimistic and I hope the EP will vote in favour of the report on Tuesday”, the rapporteur commented, also noting that the Council's stance is very tough in that there is a blocking minority which prevents the situation from developing. A massive vote is needed at the EP if one wants to change the situation as this would also allow the Commission to change its new directive, he said. He continued by saying: “I hope there will be a very clear majority to make things move not only at the Commission but also in Council to launch true reflection. Our citizens refuse social dumping, and thence the keystone of my report is the renunciation clause. Citizens do not want a Europe that rejects social market economy”. He went on to say: “I believe one must not build a Europe without workers or against workers. Flexibility should be built with minimum norms important for worker health and safety, and we must maintain the European social model. We are facing a moment of truth and we shall see if our words match our deeds when it comes to policy”.
In response to a question on the link established in France between the European Constitution (where, the journalist said, there is no guarantee of social measures) and the directive on working time, Alejandro Cercas said that one of the main political objectives that he would like to defend with his report, is that the EP should adopt a text for citizens. Like the European trade unions, Mr Cercas considers that the Constitution is the last bastion against social dumping caused by the absence of minimum norms.
Mr Cercas said Article 91 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (which imposes a limit on hours worked) is the basis of his report. He went on to say that, if the report were not adopted, the directive could still be referred to the Court of Justice as it would be anti-constitutional - all workers must benefit from a limited working time in hours. He exclaimed that he would not support a Chinese working time model where a worker works 7 days a week and 24 hours a day! Mr Cercas therefore noted that the Commission and Council support an “anti-constitutional directive”, before hoping for the umpteenth time that “tomorrow the EP will listen to what citizens have to say”.
On the subject of minimum norms, Mr Cercas recalled that these may not distort competition between Member States and that they are essential to combat relocations. He noted that the maximum limit of 48 working hours a week, fixed at European level, is not substituted for the 35-hour working week in France. Each Member State is free to determine the number of working hours that it wants but must not exceed 48 hours/week.
European trade unions call on EP and ministers to cooperate during review process of directive to safeguard workers' fundamental social rights
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) recalled that it rejected the current Commission proposals for reviewing the directive as they are, it felt, imbalanced and harmful for workers. At the meeting of its steering committee last Wednesday, ETUC called on the EP to play its role by proposing fundamental changes and called on the Council to closely cooperate with the EP during the coming review process in order to safeguard fundamental social rights in the EU. As far as the opt-out is concerned, the ETUC secretary general, John Monks, told the press that this question was eating the “heart” out of the directive. The United Kingdom wishes to keep the clause, which could spread to other member States who would also wish to keep it, John Monks noted. The ETUC confederal secretary, Catalene Passchier, recalled in this respect that Luxembourg hopes it will be introduced for hotel workers, France wants it for the healthcare sector, Germany for various sectors and that Malta has a more general opt-out system. John Monks stressed that the diplomatic lobby is a very powerful one. ETUC, he said, is campaigning against the British government essentially around this opt out clause. He called on MEPs to take a stance in favour of the Cercas report. Alejandro CErcas, moreover, stressed that 50% of British workers have signed up to the renunciation clause without knowing exactly what it meant. And it is not for this that they have worked fewer than 48 hours a week! There is therefore massive fraud in the United Kingdom, he said, saying it is therefore important to see whether this new directive goes against worker health and safety and reconciliation between family and professional life.
Carola Fyschbach-Pyttel, Secretary General of the European Federation of Public Services Unions (EPSU) placed emphasis on the importance of time on-call for the healthcare sector (nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, etc.), as the number of working hours in this sector is very high, which is “unacceptable for the health and safety of all concerned”. “The Commission with its proposal ignores the three rulings of the Court of Justice of the EC which specify that time on call is working time. It is unacceptable for the Commission to make a distinction between active and inactive working time. It is surrealistic”, Ms Fyschbach-Pyttel said, adding that, for EPSU, night work is active working time for workers. She urged MEPs to vote in mass in favour of the Cercas report.