Trade unions and employers organisations this week announced a deal

Date: 15/05/1997

which should pave the way for EU-wide rules on the status of part-time workers. The social partners issued a joint statement saying they had reached agreement on framework rules. The proposal calls for the “removal of discrimination and the improvement of the quality of part-time work and to facilitate the development of part-time work on a voluntary basis and to contribute to the flexible organisation of working time”. The partners' ruling bodies must now approve the deal, a process which should be completed by the first week in June. If all goes well, they will ask the Commission to submit their agreement to the Council of Ministers in the form of a legislative proposal.