91999E0067

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0067/99

by Esko Seppänen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(27 January 1999)

Subject: EU Directive on working hours

According to information available in Finland, the EU has adopted a Directive on working hours which permits drivers of emergency vehicles to work for an uninterrupted period of more than ten hours. As the Directive evidently excludes drivers of such vehicles from the scope of industrial safety provisions, does the Commission intend to draft provisions to protect them from having to work excessively long hours?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(9 April 1999)

Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1996(1) lays down minimum safety and health requirements for the organisation of working time. This Directive applies to workers using emergency vehicles, such as fire appliances and ambulances, to the extent that characteristics peculiar to their activities do not inevitably conflict with the legislation. Article 6 of the Directive stipulates that the average working time for each seven-day period, including overtime should not exceed 48 hours. Article 3 sets a minimum daily rest period of 11 hours. It is, therefore, possible within the Directive to work more than 10 hours per day, provided the average weekly working time remains 48 hours in total. Article 4 of the Directive states that every worker is entitled to a rest break where the working day is longer than six hours.

There is additional flexibility in Article 17 (2)(1)(c)(iii) which allows derogations from these minimum standards for the ambulance, fire and civil protection services by means of national legislation, collective agreements,or agreements between both sides of the industry provided that the workers concerned are afforded periods of equivalent compensatory rest. There is consequently, flexibility within the Directive, but on the basis of an established framework of social protection.

(1) OJ L 307, 13.12.1993.