Press Release CP CES90-2009 CP EN

European Economic and Social Committee

PRESS RELEASE No 090/2009 3 July 2009

Press release from the Employees Group

Statement by the Employees Group Working Time Directive: no deterioration in working conditions!

At the Group's extraordinary meeting on 1 July 2009, the Group president, Georges Dassis, welcomed the new members of the European Parliament and called for Parliament's decisions concerning the Working Time Directive to be respected.

We welcome the members elected to the European Parliament and we hope that, over the coming parliamentary term, they will work calmly and responsibly to achieve the objectives of growth, development and cohesion that the European Union espouses. To this end, it will be vital to preserve the common good and the values and principles on which our Community institutions are founded.

The crisis has had a profound effect on the futures of millions of people living in Europe, and we need to think particularly about the weakest and most marginalised members of society when we develop and plan new measures to promote economic recovery and increase employment.

The European Parliament has demonstrated in recent years that it can take a firm, clear position on many topics and that it has a vital role to play in key issues such as the directive on services in the internal market and the REACH directive. Parliament's statements opposing Commission proposals that represented and could still represent a risk and threat to workers' and European citizens' rights and health have been equally important.

We are currently particularly concerned about the Commission's repeated attempts to relaunch a new consultation on a revised version of the Working Time Directive, with two hidden objectives: to deregulate working time and to weaken collective bargaining. Any attempt to influence the new Parliament would be contrary to the position clearly set out a few weeks ago, both by the European Parliament and by the unions, which organised demonstrations throughout Europe.

The members of the Employees Group of the European Economic and Social Committee pledge to work and collaborate with the members of the European Parliament to ensure that economic growth and development, full employment and the European social model are objectives and tools that serve cohesion and the well-being of all citizens.

For further information please contact: Antoine Cochet, email: [email protected], tel.: +32 2 546 8698

EN European Economic and Social Committee

For more details, please contact: Barbara Gessler at the EESC Press Office, Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat 99, 1040 Bruxelles/Brussel Telephone: +32 2 546 9396; mobile: +32 475 75 32 02 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/ Press Releases: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/activities/press/cp/index_en.asp

The European Economic and Social Committee represents the various economic and social components of organised civil society. It is an institutional consultative body established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Its consultative role enables its members, and hence the organisations they represent, to participate in the Community decision-making process. The Committee has 344 members, who are appointed by the Council of Ministers.