Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-15-Speech-1-086"
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"en.20081215.14.1-086"2
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"Mr President, I have been on night duty in hospitals on two occasions, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Anyone who has experienced the work of nurses, junior doctors and ambulance drivers at close quarters will understand that it is most unrealistic to assume that on-call time can be broken down into active and inactive parts. Both are working time, and remuneration must reflect this. The European Court of Justice was right about this, too.
I think the Council is wrong to consider inactive working time a rest period. Marathons of up to 72 hours on duty would result. This cannot be asked of employees; nor of patients. Health and safety at work must not be curtailed. Nevertheless, not all on-call time is the same. An example is the private fire brigades I got to know in the course of my work as one of the 10 rapporteurs on REACH. Recently, I invited members of such private fire brigades to the European Parliament in Brussels.
They came from the chemical and steel industries and airports. The thankfully small number of times their deployment is required made it clear that a derogation from the maximum working week is necessary in their case. Incidentally, both employers and employees agreed on this.
In all this, however, it holds that agreements are a matter for the two sides of industry. Free collective bargaining and dialogue between the two sides of industry are key elements of social Europe. Where there is no collective bargaining, regulations must be enacted by the State. After all, the ministers agree on a 48-hour maximum working week in the EU.
Therefore, I endorse the Cercas report in principle, but also support flexibility by means of derogations for certain professions. If this goes to conciliation, the negotiations must be conducted calmly – and not in haste – at long last. A social Europe cannot afford hasty reactions or empty words."@en1
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