“A Missed Opportunity” says Killeen on Working Time Directive

The failure of the EU Employment Ministers to reach agreement on the politically sensitive draft EU Working Time Directive was described by Irish Labour Affairs Minister, Tony Killeen T.D., as “a missed opportunity to bring some level of harmonisation to EU working hours. A better opportunity will not arise again for another year as both Germany and Portugal signalled that they have other priorities during their respective Presidencies of the EU.”

Despite big efforts over the course of the last five Presidencies and heroic efforts of both the Austrian and current Finnish Presidencies, agreement foundered on the issue of the ending of the “opt-out” clause allowing workers in some Member States to work beyond 48 hours per week. The UK, supported by some of the new Member States, were opposed to a definitive end date for the “opt-out” clause as proposed by France, Italy and Spain.

Minister Killeen said that while “Ireland does not avail of the opt out, he saw the Finnish Presidency proposal as a pragmatic and workable compromise which would have protected the health and safety of workers without compromising the competitiveness of enterprises. Despite the flexibilities on offer in the compromise, blocking minorities in opposing camps scuppered the deal.”

Ends/LA214

7^th November 2006