UK wins fight to keep opt out

The UK has kept its opt-out from Europe's 48-hour working week after the collapse of talks aimed at revising the EU's working time directive.

The breakdown of negotiations after more than five years was hailed as a success by the British government, which has vigorously defended the opt-out first agreed by John Major's Conservative administration in 1993.

It came under pressure from parliament to scrap the deal, which ministers argued was more necessary than ever in the recession to allow people to work longer hours or take two jobs.

MEPs, including some from Socialists, were keen to put an end to the long-hours culture but failed because 14 of the 27 EU member states want to keep the opt-out.

The final position of the MEPs, to phase out the opt-out over the next three years, was rejected by member states this morning.

Reaction was swift with Mechtild Rothe, the German Socialist MEP who led for parliament in the conciliation talks, saying: "Unfortunately, after five years of negotiations, it was not possible to reach an agreement. "

Speaking at a news conference in parliament on Tuesday, she said, "The negotiation team made several proposals on the opt-out so that it would become ‘exceptional and temporary’. The opt-out cannot be forever. On the council [member states] side, any attempt to put an end to the opt-out was not acceptable.”

ALDE deputy Liz Lynne, deputy chair resident of parliament's employment and social affairs committee, has campaigned for years to keep the opt out and said today, "I have always argued that the opt out of the 48 hour limit in the working time directive should be retained so long as it is truly voluntary.

Workers should be allowed to earn overtime if they wish to.
 
"Scrapping the opt out would push people into illegal work where they would not be covered by health and safety legislation including the dangerous machinery directive."
 
"My hope now is that we will see a far more sensible proposal in the future that deals with the health sector alone, it was only ever in this area that we needed changes following rulings from the European Courts.”

Trade unions argued that allowing people to work more than 48 hours a week would put pressure on them to do so and raise the risk of accidents.

The collapse of the talks means that the commission must come up with new legislative proposals, potentially opening the way for years of further negotiations during which the current working week opt-outs would be kept.

No new proposals are expected from the current commission, whose mandate expires in October.

Further comment came from Pat McFadden, the British employment relations minister, who said: "We refused to be pushed into a bad deal for Britain.

"Everyone has the right to basic protections surrounding the hours that they work, but it is also important that they have the right to choose those hours.
"In the UK and many other member states, choice over working hours has operated successfully for many years.

"The current economic climate makes it more important than ever that people continue to have the right to put more money in their pockets by working longer hours if they choose to do so."

Lord Mandelson, the UK business secretary and former EU trade commissioner,, added: "Millions of people are better off because of the opt-out and I am relieved we have been able to resist its removal."

 

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