Working time

A high profile failure. The Finnish presidency was the fourth to work on a revision of the working time directive since the Commission made a proposal in 2004.

There was much expectation that the Finns’ long and hard work on a compromise text might lead to a deal since both UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed changes. The clever compromise included a cap of 60 hours on the working week which would not be subject to an opt-out, longer reference periods and new definitions of on-call time to allow governments to deal with a ruling from the European Court of Justice on doctors’ rest-periods which was causing problems for medical care.

In the end, negotiations were scuppered after French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced that he and French President Jacques Chirac were insisting that there had to be a commitment to end opt-outs. France had the backing of several other member states including Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. Chances of a deal evaporated and the November meeting of employment and social affairs ministers broke up with Finland’s Labour Minister Tarja Filatov expressing deep disappointment at the unsuccessful outcome.

The political stakes, ahead of France’s presidential elections next spring, were simply too high for the Finns to overcome.

A high profile failure. The Finnish presidency was the fourth to work on a revision of the working time directive since the Commission made a proposal in 2004.