10/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - Commenting on the work by the Employment Council on 2 June in Luxembourg on the working time directive, Liz Lynne (ALDE, UK) welcomes in a press release the fact that attempts to do away with opt-out on a 48-hour working week were not successful, and a blocking minority headed by the United Kingdom was enough to prevent adoption of the amended Commission proposal on this sensitive issue (EUROPE 8960). “I am delighted that removing the voluntary opt-out appears to be off the agenda. Today's decision now means the process is in limbo and unlikely to be resolved in the foreseeable future”, she said, recalling: “Last month, Labour MEPs dealt Tony Blair a bloody nose by voting to remove the opt-out, now the UK Government have hit back. Those opposed to the opt-out are not living in the real world and are instead caught up in some idealistic view of working life. They fail to address the real problems scrapping the opt-out will cause, especially for those employed in seasonal work or on short-term contracts”. She went on to warn: “Removing the opt-out would also lead to more people working illegally and therefore not covered by other health and safety legislation including the one covering working with dangerous machinery. We must clamp down on the black economy - not encourage it”.