(1)

This Directive complies with the fundamental rights and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and is designed to ensure full compliance with Article 31 thereof, which provides that all workers have the right to healthy, safe and dignified working conditions, to a limit on their maximum working time and to weekly and daily rest periods and an annual period of paid holidays.

(2)

The social partners may, in accordance with Article 139(2) of the Treaty, jointly request that Agreements concluded at Community level be implemented by a Council Decision on a proposal from the Commission.

(3)

The Council adopted Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (1). Rail transport was one of the sectors of activity excluded from the scope of that Directive. The European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2000/34/EC (2) amending Directive 93/104/EC in order to cover the sectors and activities which had previously been excluded.

(4)

The European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2003/88/EC of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (3), which codified and repealed Directive 93/104/EC.

(5)

Directive 2003/88/EC provides for derogations from Articles 3, 4, 5, 8 and 16 thereof in the case of persons working in the rail transport sector on board trains.

(6)

The Community of European Railways (CER) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) have informed the Commission of their desire to enter into negotiations in accordance with Article 139(1) of the Treaty.

(7)

On 27 January 2004 those organisations concluded an Agreement on certain aspects of the working conditions of mobile workers engaged in interoperable cross-border services, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’.

(8)

The Agreement included a joint request for the Commission to implement the Agreement by a Council Decision on a proposal from the Commission in accordance with Article 139(2) of the Treaty.

(9)

Directive 2003/88/EC applies to mobile workers engaged in interoperable cross-border services, except where more specific provisions are contained in this Directive and in the Agreement annexed thereto.

(10)

For the purposes of Article 249 of the Treaty, the appropriate instrument for implementing the Agreement is a Directive.

(11)

Since, in the light of completion of the internal market in the rail transport sector and the competition in the sector, the objectives of this Directive, which is intended to protect health and safety, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.

(12)

The development of the European railways sector requires close monitoring of the role of current and new actors, in order to ensure harmonious development throughout the Community. The European social dialogue in this field should be able to reflect this development and to take it into account as far as possible.

(13)

This Directive leaves the Member States free to define those terms of the Agreement that it does not specify in accordance with national legislation and practice, as is the case for other Directives on social policy matters using similar terms, as long as the definitions used are compatible with the Agreement.

(14)

The Commission has prepared its proposal for a Directive in accordance with its Communication of 20 May 1998 entitled ‘Adapting and promoting social dialogue at Community level’, taking into account the representative status of the contracting parties and the legality of each clause of the Agreement; the signatories are sufficiently representative of the mobile railway workers assigned to interoperable cross-border services run by the railway companies.

(15)

The Commission has drawn up its proposal for a Directive in accordance with Article 137(2) of the Treaty, which provides that Directives in the social domain shall avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings.

(16)

This Directive and the Agreement lay down minimum standards; the Member States and/or the social partners should be able to maintain or introduce more favourable provisions.

(17)

The Commission has informed the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions by sending them the proposal for a Directive for implementing the Agreement.

(18)

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the Agreement of the social partners on 26 May 2005.

(19)

Implementing the Agreement will contribute to achieving the aims set out in Article 136 of the Treaty.

(20)

In accordance with paragraph 34 of the Interinstitutional agreement on better law-making (4), Member States will be encouraged to draw up, for themselves and in the interest of the Community, their own tables, which will, as far as possible, illustrate the correlation between this Directive and the transposition measures and to make them public,