Ministers seek deal on working conditions

Employment ministers meeting next week (5-6 December) will attempt to seal a two-pronged deal on revised working time rules and agency workers’ rights.

The revised working-time directive set a 48-hour ceiling on the numbers of hours worked by employees in a week, while the directive on temporary agency workers aims to improve conditions for temps. The dossiers were bundled together by the Portuguese presidency of the EU in a bid to break long-standing deadlocks on both.

The interplay between the two directives was established after UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown indicated in September that he would back rules on temporary workers. This sparked hopes that ‘socially-minded’ countries such as France, Italy and Spain might accept the UK’s continued opt-out on working time rules in exchange.

"The idea is that no delegation will win on both directives," said an EU diplomat.

The presidency’s attempts to seal a deal, however, could yet fall flat. Since September, it has been trying to soften opposition to the UK’s opt-out from the working time directive by strengthening the temporary agency workers directive.

But UK officials indicated at a meeting last week that they were unhappy with the new version of the temporary workers directive and threatened to withdraw support.

"We don’t understand why the UK would hold back on this because they have received everything," said an EU official.

Should ministers fail to reach agreement next week, Vladimír Špidla, the employment commissioner, will proceed with legal action against member states failing to comply with the present version of the working time directive. Most of the EU’s member states are in breach.

Employment ministers will also discuss next week common principles for ‘flexicurity’, an approach to labour markets combining flexibility for employers to hire and fire with social security for the unemployed.

The draft principles prepared by ministers will be approved next month (14 December) by EU government leaders.

Draft conclusions for next month’s summit say: "Broad and balanced flexicurity policies… provide the link between flexible and reliable contractual arrangements, active labour market policies, comprehensive lifelong learning, modern and adequate social protection."

Critics, in particular far-left MEPs, claim that the model is long on flexicurity but short on security.

Ministers will agree that "the inactive, the unemployed, those in undeclared work, in unstable employment, or at the margins of the labour market need to be provided with better opportunities, economic incentives and supportive measures…"

They will add that flexicurity requires a climate of trust and broadly-based dialogue among all stakeholders, where all are prepared to take the responsibility for change with a view to socially balanced policies.

Employment ministers meeting next week (5-6 December) will attempt to seal a two-pronged deal on revised working time rules and agency workers’ rights.