By Martin Banks - 17th December 2008
The vote deprives companies of the working time flexibility they need
Philippe de Buck
The UK has moved a step closer to being forced to limit the working week to 48 hours for all employees.
It comes after MEPs meeting in Strasbourg voted on Wednesday in favour of ending Britain’s opt-out from the EU Working Time Directive.
Britain is determined to keep the opt-out and will now start talks with EU ministers in an effort to keep it.
The UK does not have a veto on the issue but it is expected to join forces with other countries that back its position in order to get its way.
A decision is expected early next year following "conciliation" talks with the council of ministers.
If Britain is forced to axe its opt-out, the law will come into force in three years’ time.
Gary Titley, leader of Labour’s MEPs, who voted to keep the opt-out, said the two sides were so far apart on the issue that the talks would probably end in stalemate and the opt-out would continue.
His comments were echoed by UK ALDE deputy Liz Lynne, shadow rapporteur on the issue, said, "The UK government should have been able to rely on all their own MEPs to support them in the retention of the opt-out but that was not the case.
"For months now the government have had to work with me on this as they couldn't get the support of their own party.”
Also unhappy is the Brussels-based organisation BusinessEurope, whose director general, Philippe de Buck, said he “deplored” the outcome of the vote, saying it was a “missed opportunity to finally find a pragmatic solution after so many years of stalemate”.
“The vote deprives companies of the working time flexibility they need. Workers who want to earn more by working longer will no longer be allowed to do so. The upcoming conciliation procedure should consider the competitiveness of the European economy as an essential priority.”
Further reaction to the outcome of the vote came from UK Green MEP Jean Lambert, who said, “I am delighted that parliament has taken a clear position in favour of workers’ rights.
“Despite intense lobbying from some governments and businesses, MEPs have stood firm and supported workers, who are too often left open to exploitation.”
Greek GUE/NGL deputy Dimitris Papadimoulis said, "This is an important victory. In addition, we won for firemen, doctors and health workers an essential point on the issue of on-call time. Parliament stated that the inactive part of on-call time had to be regarded as working time."
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