End to Opt-Out ‘logical’ if directive is to have any meaning
(18 March 2009, Brussels) The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), particularly as the European social partner for firefighters and medical personnel, welcomes the European Parliament stance as working time talks begin.
The so called ‘conciliation committee’ process on the working time directive started on Tuesday (17 March). The formal talks, between teams from the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, are set to take 6 weeks.
The negotiations are necessary thanks to the successful working time vote in the Parliament last December. The highlight of the pre-Christmas vote was an absolute majority calling for the abolition of the Opt-Out within 3 years. Council representatives are refusing to recognize this vote, despite the fact that for the first time in Parliament history, the ‘second reading ‘ vote was even bigger than the first vote in 2005.
The Czech Presidency, leading the Council side with deputy Prime Minister Petr Nečas, conceded that; “During the preparatory talks it became obvious that the European Parliament considers the abolition of the opt-out clause, i.e. an exception from the maximum weekly working hours, as issue number one”.
“This testimony of the Czech Presidency, highlighting the European Parliaments’ resolve, is also a testament to the democratic legitimacy of the Parliament decision in December”, stated EPSU General Secretary Carola Fischbach-Pyttel, adding that; “it is entirely logical that ending the opt-out is the priority – if you are negotiating a compromise agreement, you want it at least to be universally applied”.
EPSU reiterated its position that the compromise agreement in Parliament – itself the result of a torturous negotiation process – is the minimum, if the working time directive is to have any real weight in application. The three 'bottom line' issues are an ending of the opt-out; on-call work in the work place considered as working time; and a reasonable timeframe for average working week calculation. This long-standing position is based on the official mandate on the issue received at the EPSU Executive Committee of June 2005.
For more information please contact Brian Synnott (EPSU Communication Officer)
+32 474 98 96 75 or [email protected]
For more info on EPSU and working time go here
For more info on EPSU and the European Elections go here
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