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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| UK keeps EU working week opt-out | UK keeps EU working week opt-out |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| The UK's opt out from the European Working Time Directive will remain in place after seeing off attempts by the European Parliament to phase it out. | The UK's opt out from the European Working Time Directive will remain in place after seeing off attempts by the European Parliament to phase it out. |
| The opt-out enables UK workers to work more than 48 hours a week. Euro MPs wanted it phased out over three years. | The opt-out enables UK workers to work more than 48 hours a week. Euro MPs wanted it phased out over three years. |
| But talks between MEPs, member states and the European Commission failed to reach agreement on how to proceed. | But talks between MEPs, member states and the European Commission failed to reach agreement on how to proceed. |
| Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said he was "relieved we have been able to resist its removal". | Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said he was "relieved we have been able to resist its removal". |
| Flexibility | |
| The UK has strenuously defended the opt-out, which 14 other member states are signed up to, for many years. | |
| It argues that workers should be able to choose how many hours they work and flexibility in the workplace boosts the economy. | |
| However, unions say the UK has the longest working hours of any country in Europe and that this hinders rather than improves the country's productivity. | |
| MEPs voted in December to end the opt-out - designed to prevent workers from being exploited - within three years. | |
| The current economic climate makes it more important than ever that people continue to have the right to put more money in their pockets Pat McFadden, Employment minister | |
| But the UK and other member states opposed the move and talks in Brussels aimed at finding a solution broke down after it was agreed that the differences were too great. | |
| It will now be up to the European Commission to decide whether to put forward new legislative proposals. | |
| Employment minister Pat McFadden said the opt-out had worked successfully for many years and ending it would have been a "bad deal" for the UK in the midst of a recession. | |
| Unemployment has risen above two million while thousands of employees, particularly in the car industry, have had their working hours reduced in the face of weakening demand. | |
| "Everyone has the right to basic protections surrounding the hours that they work but it is also important that they have the right to choose those hours," he said. | |
| "The current economic climate makes it more important than ever that people continue to have the right to put more money in their pockets by working longer hours if they choose to do so." |