The EP adopted by a large majority the report by Alejandro Cercas Alonso (PES) on a Commission Communication on the working time directive. Working time limitation is one of the major issues of working conditions. Directive 93/104/EC is one of the most important pieces of social legislation in Europe. Working excessively long hours is bad for workers' health and safety. A long hours culture is also destructive to family life, and furthermore reduces women's  potential to be active in the labour market and progress their careers.

The temporary opportunity to provide an individual option for employees to opt out the directive proved to be very dangerous, as it gave raise to abuses. The EP clearly voted for a revision of the directive as soon as possible, with the view of phasing-out the opt-out.

[Read the report]