Punishment For Non-Compliance

02-02-2007

The European Commission is to launch disciplinary sanctions against member states breaking the EU's Working Time Rules, with national governments applying different rules for doctors or firemen when they are on duty but not actually working.

As the EU social and employment ministers gather for informal talks in Berlin, social affairs commissioner Vladimir Spidla will distribute a questionnaire among them to sort out differences in their national rules.

"Several member states are in breach of EU law. It cannot just go on like this," Mr Spidla was quoted as saying. The commission warned national governments last November that it would take them to court for not respecting the European employment legislation, particularly working time rules.

The EU had tried to change the controversial law, especially after the European Court of Justice ruled in two cases in 2000 and 2003 that the time some professionals spend on duty should be regarded as proper working time regarding pay and rest.

A strict application of this rule would likely cause heavy financial burdens as well as a lack of professionals in some sectors, mainly health care - and most EU countries have simply ignored it.

But after five EU presidencies in a row failed to reach a consensus on the Working Time Directive, the current German presidency said it would not even try to break the deadlock, which pits France against the UK on a 48 hour working week limit.

For the moment, the commission says that a total of 23 EU countries are in one way or another breaching the working time directive and Brussels as the "guardian of the treaties" wants to act to make them change it.

Apart from this issue, the informal summit in Berlin will see a debate on the commission's green paper on labour law and demography, with the former tackling ways to boost labour market flexibility while retaining workers' social security, and the latter suggesting a further increase in the retirement age.

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