BMJ  2007;334:770-771 (14 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39167.513148.47

Feature

European Working Time Directive

Battles in time

Brussels

How the European Working Time Directive will be implemented across Countries is yet to be fully resolved, as Rory Watson explains

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

European legislation on working time and the maximum 48 hour working week is currently languishing in a no man's land. The battle between supporters of the opt-out from its provisions, led by the United Kingdom, and opponents to such a move, championed by France, has resulted in a stalemate in efforts to update measures that were first introduced in 1998.

At the same time, national governments are having to take into account rulings from the Luxembourg based European Court of Justice, which interprets the legislation. The two most important are SIMAP (Sindicato de Médicos de Asistencia Pública) (2000) and Jaeger (2003). These held that on-call duty performed by a doctor when required to be physically present in the hospital must be regarded as working time.

These rulings are having a direct effect on countries such as France, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, and Hungary, which traditionally did not calculate all periods of . . . [Full text of this article]

Deadline

Amending the rulings

Opt-out causes talks to flounder

Talks collapse

Are amendments possible?

Other avenues

EU-wide snapshot

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Relevant Article

Caveat emptor

Fiona Godlee
BMJ 2007 334: 0. [Extract] [Full Text]