Luxembourg, 02/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - The amended draft directive on aspects of working time changes “is a starting point, given that Member States do not have the time to examine it in a detailed way and therefore take a prostitution. The College of Commissioners approved it yesterday and Member States were unaware of this at the time, explained François Biltgen at the end of the Employment Council on 22 May in Luxembourg. However, he added that they had noticed the will of most Member States to reach a compromise. Given this desire by the Commission and Member States to obtain a solution that was acceptable to the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, the Luxembourg presidency in charge of Coreper's following up the dossier. Biltgen explained that they would then be able to respond to any suggestions to obtain this compromise and start up work as soon as possible.
Biltgen said that they had “not advanced but had not stepped back either”. He made the following conclusions to the press on the discussions: 1) the dossier has to be treated urgently due to the legal uncertainty of the Jaeger and Simap rulings at the EU Court of Justice and their effect on Member States; 2) everyone welcomed the Commission's desire to present a valid compromise; 3) the real point to resolve is that of whether to keep the opt-out to a working week of 48 hours maximum. Two proposals were presented, explained Biltgen: that Member States that wanted freedom of choice and wanted to keep the opt-out; then those for whom the reformer period for calculating the maximum 48 hour working week would be sufficient for ensuring company flexibility and those who want to get rid of the opt-out. President Biltgen formally noted “all the different degrees and the desire to obtain a compromise acceptable to both camps”.
François Biltgen also pointed to the existence of two specific problems “which have to be resolved before the difficult question of whether to maintain the opt-out: the first involved problems posed in many Member States in the health sector. (The minister said it is therefore necessary, as the Commission has already said, to look at this dossier as a whole as the opt-out and the Jaeger and Simpa rulings are linked), and the danger of seeing workers sign several work contracts.
Sharing the analysis made by President Biltgen, Commissioner Spidla stressed the “need to continue making an effort and work toward a result. Discussion was useful and covered many areas, and the Commission will do its best to reach a compromise as soon as possible”.
We recall that France, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Spain and Slovenia have an opt-out for their healthcare sector; Luxembourg for hotels and catering; and the United Kingdom, Cyprus and Malta have a general opt-out.