ＥＵ労働時間指令改正案、遂に瓦解

閣僚理事会（加盟国代表）と欧州議会の間で対立が続いていた労働時間指令の改正案ですが、遂に妥協がならず、瓦解してしまったようです。

http://euobserver.com/9/28024

>Talks to revise EU working time bill fail

After hours of late-night negotiations on Monday (27 April), EU member states and MEPs officially abandoned trying to reach an agreement on updating a directive on working hours across the 27-nation bloc.

"Despite five years of painstaking negotiations on the revision of the Working Time Directive, which often went on until the small hours, the current legislation will stay in force," the Czech EU presidency said in a statement.

The aim was to revise the 1993 legislation to limit countries opting out from the 48-hour maximum working week that the law imposes. Fifiteen member states make use of the opt-out.

EU social affairs commissioner Vladimir Spidla said he was "sorely disappointed" by the outcome of this last round of conciliation talks which involved diplomats from all 27 member states and the equivalent number of MEPs.

The stalemate means the current EU rules on working time are to remain in force, with the European Commission now considering whether to draft new ones.

"My colleagues and I in the College of Commissioners will now need to reflect on this result, and decide what, if anything, we do next," Mr Spidla stated.

改正案が成立しないということは、今のままの労働時間指令が続くということです。オプトアウトはいまの契約締結時にとれてしまう状況のままで、オプトアウト廃止論者にとってもより悪い結果ですし、待機時間についても不活動時間も労働時間と見なすという欧州司法裁判所の判例がそのまま生きてしまうので、これは、おそらく誰にとっても喜ばしくない結果のはずですが、妥協してチキンになりたくない双方が突っ張った結果がこれだったわけですね。

>EU states and MEPs blamed each other for the failed talks on Tuesday.

"The result of the talks was undoubtedly influenced by the approaching elections to the European Parliament. At this time, the MEPs were not willing to accept a deal that would, however, improve the employees' situation, and, at the same time, lead to a more flexible labour market," stated Petr Necas, Czech deputy prime minister and minister of labour and social affairs.

"The Parliament gave priority to ideology over political and economic reality," he went on.

German socialist MEP Mechtild Rothe, who chairs the parliament's delegation rejected the accusations and said the Council – representing EU member states – was the one to blame.

"We [the parliament] did move quite considerably. And therefore it would be quite incorrect to say that the parliament failed to give ground here. That simply doesn't tie in with the actual run of the negotiations," Ms Rothe said at a press conference.

"The main problem was that the Council felt that it was unable to make concessions to the parliament" on several points, she added.

欧州議会は選挙のことを気にして、現実よりもイデオロギーを優先したんだ、

いや妥協を拒否した閣僚理事会が悪い、

と非難の応酬。