p>PRESS RELEASE
2876th Council meeting
Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs
Luxembourg
, 9-10 June 2008
WORKING TIME
The Council has reached political agreement on a directive Council amending Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time.
The Council instructed the Permanent Representatives Committee to finalise the text with a view to the formal adoption of a Common Position as an “A” item at a forthcoming Council session.
Directive 2003/88/CE establishes minimum requirements concerning the organisation of working time, in particular in respect of daily and weekly rest periods, breaks, maximum weekly working time, annual leave and certain aspects of night work, shift work and patterns of work.
The key issues [still to be resolved] resolved by the Council relate to the so-called “opt-out clause”, i.e. the possibility of not applying the maximum weekly working time (48 hours) if the worker agrees to work longer hours.
The compromise text provides for the possibility of the opt-outclause, accompanied by a number of conditions in order to guarantee the protection of health and safety of workers.
The success of the Slovenian Presidency builds on the work of six previous presidencies and is part of an overall package which includes the temporary workers file, also discussed today.
The directive is to be adopted under the co-decision procedure with the European Parliament.
The European Parliament delivered its first‑reading opinion on 11 May 2005 (8725/05) and the Commission its amended proposal on 31 May 2005 (9554/05).