WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE : COUNCIL CONTEMPLATES SECOND-READING DEBATE.

At the end of Social Affairs Council, on 17 December, French Minister of Labour Xavier Bertrand made it clear that there are possibilities for a breakthrough in the impasse over the Working Time Directive between the European Parliament and the Council. "Considering on-call time, there is room for manoeuvre. A new form of wording might not be problematic for some member states," said Bertrand, the current president of the Employment Council, who added: "The status quo of the directive is not satisfactory for anyone. Neither for workers, nor for companies. For me, the best solution would be to go into conciliation as fast as possible.aIt is possible to replay a match and I hope it will be replayed really soon" (see Page 1).

However, it remains to be seen if all the member states would agree to conciliation. According to Council sources, the countries that did not back the Council's common position from June 2008 and support the EP may try to arrange for a second-reading debate while taking up the amendments from the EP, and thereby avoid a conciliation procedure. Either way, within three months (which may be extended by one month) the Council has to decide if it takes up all the amendments. Since the EP elections are coming up in May, a conciliation procedure(1) - if this is the choice of the Council and which many expect to happen - has to be launched quickly.

The Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Vladimir Spidla, said after the Employment Council of 17 December that all EU institutions should now show their responsibilities. He said that the Commission intends to play the role of a honest broker' and added that the Commission will look at...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT