As TNN has reported before, the road transport industry is subject to the Road Transport Directive RTD, which has a mandatory working week of 48hrs for all industry workers. Until now, employees in other sectors have been given the option of working longer hours if they choose to do so and sign an opt-out agreement with their employers.

Spanish Socialist MEP Alejandro Cercas has suggested that the stricter RTD style rules should apply to all workers, with no opt-out possible.

The European Commission has proposed that:

• Employees should not be asked to sign the opt-out form at the same time as signing their employment contract
• An employee should be able to withdraw consent at any moment
• Where unions are recognised, they should have a veto on working weeks of more than 48 hours
• On-call time should not be counted as working time

The proposals have already been approved by the parliament's Employment Committee.

Speaking to the BBC, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "This issue has been deadlocked for too long. The European Parliament should accept this sensible compromise. It certainly does not go as far as we would like, but it does meet the key objection from most employers who encourage their staff to sign an opt-out. Employers say they need the flexibility to be able to cope with the peaks and troughs of workload. An annual average does precisely this."