ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The 65-hour Directive was an agreement adopted by a qualified majority of the European Council Ministers of Labour on 10 June 2008, which was intended to amend the European Union Working Time Directive and to extend working hours from 48 hours a week to 65 hours, provided that the worker and the employer so agreed and applied throughout the Union, and which was rejected by the European Parliament on 17 December of the same year.

The proposal
The directive provided for working hours up to 60 hours, and 65 hours for medical guards, transporters and fishermen, for whom it is intended to account as rest hours the time spent at work, even the non-productive.

The working week in the European Union should therefore remain at the maximum of 48 hours, but under individual agreements, employers and workers would be allowed to extend the working day up to 60 hours a week, calculated on average over a period of three months, and even 65 hours in some special groups. This measure would therefore enshrine the British option throughout the Union, which is assimilated in European and economic circles to an alleged freedom of choice of the worker.

Positive opinions
The proposal was processed under the presidency of the Union of Slovenia, and following the election victory of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy that had unbalanced the votes around the measure, to which former Prime Minister Romano Prodi opposed, along with other governments such as those in France or Spain.

The Slovenian Minister of Labour, Marjeta Cotman, said that the agreement reached provided "protection for workers and flexibility in the management of working time." Mr John Hutton, British Minister for the Economy, said that this agreement ensured the freedom of workers to gain more hours of work, and that companies could be covered during periods of greater activity, recalling that in the UK, where there is greater flexibility in work, unemployment remained at 5% compared to 6.7% on average of the 27 members of the Union. In general, those in favour of the measure stressed the positive effect that increased competitiveness and job flexibility can have on the economy.

Critical opinions
Among the most critical countries with the project were Spain, which abstained in the vote, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece and Hungary, and also submitted reservations to Portugal and Malta. The main European trade unions have also expressed their rejection.

The proposal was opposed by the workers' unions, in addition to the governments of several countries of the Union and international bodies, which pointed out the measure as a very serious cut in social rights. In general, the International Labour Organization noted, with regard to the extension of the lab days