Considerations on COM(1998)662-2 - Amendment of Directive 93/104/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time to cover sectors and activities excluded from that Directive - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(1998)662-2 - Amendment of Directive 93/104/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time to cover sectors and ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(1998)662  |
| date | June 22, 2000 |
(2) Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time(4) lays down minimum safety and health requirements for the organisation of working time, in respect of periods of daily rest, breaks, weekly rest, maximum weekly working time, annual leave and aspects of night work, shift work and patterns of work. That Directive should be amended for the following reasons.
(3) Road, air, sea and rail transport, inland waterways, sea fishing, other work at sea and the activities of doctors in training are excluded from the scope of Council Directive 93/104/EC.
(4) The Commission, in its proposal of 20 September 1990, did not exclude any sectors and activities from Council Directive 93/104/EC, nor did the European Parliament in its Opinion of 20 February 1991 accept such exclusions.
(5) The health and safety of workers should be protected at the workplace not because they work in a particular sector or carry out a particular activity, but because they are workers.
(6) As regards sectoral legislation for mobile workers, a complementary and parallel approach is needed in the provisions on transport safety and the health and safety of the workers concerned.
(7) Account needs to be taken of the specific nature of activities at sea and of doctors in training.
(8) Protection of the health and safety of mobile workers in the excluded sectors and activities should also be guaranteed.
(9) The existing provisions concerning annual leave and health assessments for night work and shift work should be extended to include mobile workers in the excluded sectors and activities.
(10) The existing provisions on working time and rest need to be adapted for mobile workers in the excluded sectors and activities.
(11) All workers should have adequate rest periods. The concept of 'rest' must be expressed in units of time, i.e. in days, hours and/or fractions thereof.
(12) A European Agreement in respect of the working time of seafarers has been put into effect by means of a Council Directive(5), on a proposal from the Commission, in accordance with Article 139(2) of the Treaty. Accordingly, the provisions of this Directive should not apply to seafarers.
(13) In the case of those 'share-fishermen' who are employees, it is for Member States to determine, pursuant to Article 7 of Council Directive 93/104/EC, the conditions for entitlement to, and granting of, annual leave, including the arrangements for payments.
(14) Specific standards laid down in other Community instruments relating, for example, to rest periods, working time, annual leave and night work for certain categories of workers should take precedence over the provisions of Council Directive 93/104/EC as amended by this Directive.
(15) In the light of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities the provision relating to Sunday rest should be deleted.
(16) In its judgment in Case C-84/94 United Kingdom v. Council(6) the Court of Justice ruled that Council Directive 93/104/EC accords with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. There is no reason to assume that that judgment is not applicable to comparable rules concerning a number of aspects of the organisation of working time in excluded sectors and activities.