Brussels, 06/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - Despite the conciliation procedure on the working time directive, the Parliament and Council did not succeed in reaching a compromise on three crucial aspects of the legislation: the opt-out clause, standby and the question of multiple contracts (workers who have more than one work contract). MEPs will therefore not vote on this directive (EUROPE 9892/9891/9884/9875/9864). Nonetheless, the vice president of the EP and president of the EP delegation at the conciliation committee, Mechtild Rothe (PES, Germany) made a declaration on this subject to the plenary session in Strasbourg, “after several trialogues and three conciliation meetings, it was impossible to get an agreement. The vote of the Parliamentary delegation was clear: 15 votes for and 5 abstentions. Despite a final attempt by the Commission, it was impossible to find a compromise”. COREPER also rejected it. The controversial points were the opt-out and the length of the working week, as well as conditions linked to being on-call, which favour employers. The Council did not want to budge one iota on the opt-out. The European Court of Justice said that being on-call must count as working time. This position was defended by the EP for whom the Commission and Council's proposals on this issue did not go as far as the rulings by the European Court of Justice. In conclusion, the parliament believes it better not to have a compromise than to have a bad compromise. This is better. We are hoping for a new proposal from the Commission”.
Michal Sedlacek, the Czech vice minister for work and social affairs said that the Council, “had thought the text balanced, with increased protection for workers. We adopted a pragmatic approach: 15 out of 27 member states are currently practising the opt-out. We have had eight rounds of negotiations”. Commissioner Vladimir Spidla was said that the Council and Parliament had not shifted, particularly on the opt-out, “I understand that Parliament wants to put a stop to all forms of excess. I am convinced that this failure is off-message to both workers and the business community. The Commission will have to review the situation and the reasons for this failure”.
Hartmut Nassauer (EPP-ED, Germany) said that it is not in the interest of workers for this conciliation to have failed and for the old directive to remain in force, “the two parties are guilty: the Council did not give in on the opt-out and the Parliament sees the solution as completely getting rid of the opt-out. Parliament is rigid. Social partners should have been called on, which was not done”. Alejandro Cercas (PES, Spain) said that the opt-out had to go, “this goes in the direction of health, professional and family life. European social law has to become a reality”. Elisabeth Lynne (ALDE, United Kingdom) repeated that the it was a bad agreement and she supported a voluntary opt-out and asked why someone should be prevented from working more if he wanted to. Elizabeth Schroedter (Greens/EFA, Greens), said that the Commission was also partly responsible for the failure, “it did nothing to get a breakthrough. Your proposals are questionable on minimum standards. Ilda Figueredo (GUE/NGL) exclaimed that, “fortunately there is not agreement on this directive. It makes things worse for on-call and meals!” She added that on-call time should be fully paid, “we will continue to fight for workers. Reducing working time must be without loss of pay!”
Michal Sedlacek said that during the “very interesting debate”, one thing had not been said, that workers' protection systems in Europe had been extremely well devised, “We are lining in the 21st century and we need to adapt. Everything is evolving very quickly. With new technologies, it is difficult to calculate the working hours of an employee”. The Czech minister noted that the Council had given its agreement on a certain number of compromises but it was parliament that had not accepted them, “I have contact with citizens who want more freedom and intend to defend it. This cannot be done on the basis of new rules. If you want to continue to close your eyes to reality - 15 out of 27 member states apply the opt-out! -, we will be unable to move forward” Vladimir Spidla said that they had not discussed compensatory meal time and changes in night shifts, “the current situation is deplorable and unsatisfactory from a point of view of on-call, night shifts, compensatory meal breaks, which have to be improved for the heal of workers in the workplace”. (G.B./trans/rh)