Slovenia Rejects EU Working Time Directive
Slovenia cannot support the European Commission's compromise proposal on the working time directive, Labour Minister Janez Drobnic said on Thursday. "Due to the requirements of the public sector, in particular health care, the cap on extensions to the 48-hour working week within three years is unacceptable," he said.
Speaking on the margins of a session of the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumers Council, Drobnic said Slovenia has exemptions to the 48-hour week primarily for highly qualified personnel such as doctors, and simply cannot provide sufficient staff within three years.
Slovenia also has a problem with the solution whereby no extension may exceed 55 hours per week. According to Drobnic, the European Commission's initial proposal, which set the upper limit at 65 hours, would be acceptable.
According to diplomatic sources, the compromise proposal was rejected by a sizeable group of countries today, among them Great Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy and Slovakia. The proposal was backed by France, Belgium, Sweden and Finland, among others.
The rift means that the controversial directive had to be returned to a lower level for coordination, to be discussed by the ministers again in the second half of the year. However, Minister Drobnic said that agreement is still far.
The ministers also discussed the establishment of the gender equality institute, which is to start working in 2007. Five countries, among them Slovenia, are vying to host the seat of the new EU institution.
"A lot of lobbying will be required," Drobnic said, adding that candidacies have been announced by Slovenia as well as Slovakia, Lithuania, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
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