European Parliament votes to end hours opt-out

The European Parliament has voted to end the arrangements allowing individual workers to opt out of the normal 48-hour limit on a working week. They want this exception to the Working Time Directive (WTD) to be phased out over three years.

The issue must now be negotiated between the Parliament and the Council of Ministers, which brings together the governments of European Union (EU) member states. However, the vote - won by 378 votes to 262 - greatly strengthens the position of unions who have called for the opt-out to be ended.

Other changes to the WTD agreed by the Parliament include concessions to employers, such as:

* allowing weekly hours to be averaged over 12 months rather than the current four; and

* relaxing the rules concerning on-call periods, which the European Court of Justice has said should count as working time.

The TUC described the package, which was finally voted through by the Parliament on 11 May, as a "sensible modern compromise".

The UK government still wants to keep the opt-out, and is trying to gather support among other EU governments to block the Parliament's proposals when negotiations start, probably in June.

For the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the parliamentary vote is already a major step forward. "It is proof a strong social Europe really does exist," said ETUC general secretary John Monks.