Brussels, 10/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 2 June in Luxembourg, the EU Council of Social Affairs Ministers was successful in reaching a political agreement on a proposal for a directive aimed at putting into effect the agreement concluded in January 2004 between social partners in the railway sector on certain aspects of working time adjustment for mobile railway personnel. The directive will be formally adopted during the next Council session with the announced abstention by Austria, Slovakia and the United Kingdom (EUROPE 8960/8962). Given the concerns expressed by the delegations regarding the impact that the directive could have, especially in the context of liberalisation of the railway sector, the Commission undertook to report to the Council on the economic and social impact of the agreement before the date set for transposing the directive.
The European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) believes the political agreement is “confirmation of the importance of the European Social Dialogue as part of the European Social Model”. ETF regrets, however, that Austria, the United Kingdom and Slovakia abstained and trust that their abstention does not mean a general rejection of the decisions taken by social partners. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) considers that the political agreement is of key importance with a view to preparations for opening the rail freight market in 2007. The European Rail Freight Customers Platform (ERFCP), which represents rail passengers, expressed disappointment at the Council's decision, among other things because the directive foresees that one daily rest time outside the residence must be followed by a rest time at home. This increases costs for operators and therefore also for customers, which would make railway travel less attractive for potential customers and for workers, ERFCP stresses.
We recall that the directive proposed by the Commission on 8 February 2005 answers the specific needs of railway workers whose activity in just one day extends over the rail network of at least two EU Member States (they are excluded from the initial 1993 directive on working time, but covered by most of its provisions). On 27 January 2004, the CER and ETF agreed on daily and weekly rest time for the whole of the European rail market and the agreement was transposed into a directive of the EC Treaty, guaranteeing workers a daily rest time of 12 consecutive hours and breaks of 30-45 minutes, limiting the daily driving time to 9 hours during the day and to 8 hours at night. Employers benefit from greater flexibility mainly when they have the possibility to reduce the daily work periods to 9 hours instead of 11 as foreseen in the working time directive.