Brown set for EU showdown on temps
George Parker, Sarah Laitner and Jean Eaglesham FT - 04 December 2007
Gordon Brown has personally intervened to defend Britain’s flexible labour market, amid warnings that the UK could be outvoted in Brussels on Wednesday in the biggest clash with Europe since he became prime minister.
Mr Brown last week urged European Union chiefs to avert a showdown that could see Britain forced to give full employment rights to temporary workers.
The prime minister made his plea in a call to José Sócrates, prime minister of Portugal – the country that currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, has also been made aware of Mr Brown’s concerns.
Mr Brown knows a defeat on temporary workers’ rights would infuriate business leaders and could fuel hostility towards Europe at a time when he is preparing to ratify the controversial EU reform treaty.
Britain and Germany are among those opposing a draft directive that would give temps full pay and conditions after six weeks in the job. They say it could impose extra costs on employers and make work less flexible.
But both countries could be outvoted on Wednesday if the Portuguese presidency presses a vote. Crucially, Polish support is uncertain and this could deny London and Berlin their blocking minority.
Mr Brown is outraged by provisions in the directive, which he believes run counter to the EU’s much-vaunted drive to make Europe more competitive. British business says temps should get full rights only after a minimum of six months.
“The key thing is to strike a balance between protecting workers and not putting their jobs at risk,” said a spokesman for the prime minister.
Mr Brown’s allies reject suggestions in Brussels that he has warned of a “crisis” in relations with the EU, but Mr Barroso is worried that the row could blow up in Britain at a sensitive time.
Mr Barroso, a Portuguese liberal, has effectively stopped new EU social and employment legislation since arriving in Brussels in 2004. The temporary workers bill and a separate EU working time directive predate his tenure.
Mr Brown’s pro-business line has dismayed his union allies. Brendan Barber, head of the Trades Union Congress, wrote to Mr Brown last week saying he was “deeply disappointed” by British efforts to block the agency workers directive.
But John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI, said: “A quarter of a million UK jobs are on the line if this draft directive goes through. The government has, rightly, been rock solid in opposing this legislation and must continue to do so.”
EU diplomats say it may not be clear until Wednesday how the Portuguese presidency will deal with the issue. It might simply decide the matter is too contentious and pass it on to Slovenia, next in the rotating chair.
Another option would be to ask Britain to agree to new rights for temps in exchange for a permanent “opt-out” from the EU’s 48-hour maximum working week, set out in the working time directive.
Mr Brown has rejected any such deal. “We don’t want to start tying the two issues together,” a spokesman said.
Britain has enough allies to maintain its opt-out in any case. But the Portuguese presidency believes granting the UK a permanent exclusion from the working time directive could help London save face if forced to back down on temps.
Divisive piece of legislation
It is five years since the European Commission proposed a directive to improve conditions for agency workers – since when the law has been in a legislative deep freeze, writes Sarah Laitner.
An updated draft calls for an agency worker to receive the same pay as a comparable member of staff after six weeks.
Britain has the highest proportion of temporary workers in the “old” European Union, according to a study.
Meanwhile, the working time directive, approved in 1993, has long been a pet hate of the British government and business lobby.
The legislation sets a 48-hour maximum working week in the EU. Britain’s exemption to this rule is under threat.
The directive infuriates those who believe Brussels should not be able to set laws telling workers to down tools if they choose to put in extra hours.
By contrast, trades unions argue that long hours hit productivity and that the exemption hurts the quality of life of some employees, who are, in effect, coerced into signing up to it.
The directive has lapsed and required review since 2003, but countries are divided over how to proceed. Until they agree, the British waiver remains.
© FT