Earlier in May, talks on the EU Working Time Directive broke down without agreement being reached. The collapse sees the end of the European Parliament's proposal to phase out the opt-out in three years. The UK and other countries have consistently held firm against this proposal.

A conciliation meeting in Brussels between the member states, European Parliament and the European Commission was unable to resolve the long-standing differences between the European Parliament and member states over whether to retain the opt-out or not. The directive has been under negotiation for five years, with issues surrounding opt-outs from the 48 hour week and definitions surrounding ‘on-call' working being at the heart of negotiations.

No agreement means the dossier in its current form will formally fall when the conciliation timetable reaches its conclusion. It will then be for the European Commission to decide how to proceed.  As no agreement was sought, the current rules continue, with the opt-out still in place.

Source:   www.fta.co.uk