The European Parliament hast to improve the revised version of the Working Time Directive...

The 27 EU member states have found a compromise on the revised version of the Working Time Directive earlier this week. The compromise will extend the maximum working time from 48 hours a week to 60 hours (in the case of doctors even up to 65 hours a week). Secondly, the inactive part of the ‘on call time’ is no longer working time. This is a contradicting the judgment of the European Court of Justice in 2003. In 2003 the court ruled that ‘on call time’ is working time.

“Now it is up to the European Parliament to improve this directive”, says Nils Hindersmann ECOSY Vice President. “We as ECOSY - Young European Socialists have always been fighting for a working time reduction in order to have more employment, more time for education and more time for family life. This is impossible with the new directive. We need a step forward rather than a step backward”, says Nils Hindersmann. The governments of Spain, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary did not support this compromise. Some of these countries will, because of the directive, have to fear more unfair competition on their social and labor standards because their working time regulations are a lot more favorable for the workers. “With this directive a Social Europe is not possible. It will only increase the race to the bottom on labor standards in the EU”, says Nils Hindersmann.