Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-04-Speech-1-113"
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"en.20090504.17.1-113"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Czech Presidency, I would like to inform you about the Council’s position regarding the completion of negotiations on the revision of the Working Time Directive. As you are undoubtedly aware, the Council spent four long years discussing an amendment to this directive before finally reaching a common position on the content
after some highly complex negotiations.
A qualified majority of Member States have agreed that the key disputed issue of the opt-out will be left in the directive, but with strongly defined conditions which will tighten up its application considerably. The Council, for example, wanted to reduce the maximum weekly working time when using the opt-out from 78 hours to 60 or 65 hours and proposed banning the use of opt-outs when signing an employment contract or limiting the period of consent given by employees to work in an opt-out regime to one year. The Council’s aim was to restrict the use of opt-out in the Member States, but primarily to enhance the protection of employees who are using the opt-out. The Council viewed its draft directive as a well-balanced document promoting employee protection, and hoped it would also prove acceptable to Parliament, which was expected to approve it at the second reading.
Since the vote last December, the Czech Presidency has been well aware of the different attitudes of the two institutions towards the draft directive, but has not regarded the negotiating procedure as a fight for prestige between the two institutions. Instead, it has taken a pragmatic, non-ideological and realistic approach, taking account of the realities of the European labour market. It is an indisputable fact that the opt-out is used today by 15 of the 27 EU Member States. Since January this year, when the Czech Republic took over the Presidency, we have pursued very intense negotiations at all levels in an effort to find space for a possible compromise with Parliament. The first meeting of the Member States on this topic was held in Prague on 13 January. At least eight rounds of informal trialogues have been held to date, as well as three rounds of the negotiating process proper. At this point I would like to thank the Commission, and especially Commissioner Špidla, for its specialist assistance and constructive approach in searching for a possible compromise over the wording of the directive. The Council was willing to agree and to compromise on the common position, but despite this no agreement has been reached. Over the past four months, the Czech Presidency has been very active and responsible in holding talks with Parliament and submitting many compromise solutions to Parliament on various issues regarding the directive in a bid to find a final solution acceptable to the Council and to Parliament.
Today I can state that the Council made a number of concessions to meet the demands of Parliament, and yet these were not enough for Parliament. For example, the Council was prepared to abandon the common position and to endorse Parliament’s view that all on-call time is indeed work time. The Council also made concessions during the debate on harmonising work and family life in the deadline for providing supplementary daytime rest and in the definition of top-ranking employees, and I could list further examples. The Council wanted to come to an agreement with Parliament over the key issue of the opt-out and was prepared to accommodate Parliament’s demands and to accept its other proposals, for example a ban on arranging opt-outs during the probationary period and removal of the maximum weekly working time for the opt-out, even though we naturally felt that we were acting against the interests of employees. We were even prepared to accept the idea of introducing registration of hours actually worked in the opt-out. However, Parliament did not even go half way to meet the Council’s position.
Speaking on behalf of the Czech Presidency, I am frankly sorry that Parliament was unwilling to compromise and to agree on a revised directive, which has been awaited not only by Member States but also by EU citizens for five long years. Agreement on a revised directive would contribute to greater protection for employees, would help in solving the problem of on-call time and rest, and would pave the way towards a gradual reduction in the use of opt-outs in the Member States. However, the MEPs in the negotiating committee were deaf to these proposals. They refused to accept them and they refused to accept the Council’s counter proposals and the compromises offered by the Commission, insisting instead on their own ideological position. Since Parliament was unwilling to respect the situation in the Council and the realities of the current situation, the existing directive will remain in force. Use of the opt-out will not be restricted, no monitoring will be introduced, and workers will have to continue working up to 78 hours a week. In all probability, the attitude of Parliament will lead to greater use of the opt-out. The European Commission has received signals today from another two Member States that are intending to introduce the opt-out, and consequently any hopes for its future abolition are further reduced. The Council wanted to prevent this but Parliament has ruled otherwise."@en1
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