European and External Relations Committee, 09 Nov 2004

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Official Report 233KB pdf

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Pre and Post-council Scrutiny

The final paper for us to consider is the pre and post-council scrutiny paper. In addition to the substantial paper, there is a paper on a reply from Andy Kerr on the working time directive, which was previously of interest to members. That paper was made available to members in advance of the meeting.

Members will find information on the relevant European councils in the summary table in annex A, which is on page 3 of the paper. No specific action points arise, other than to note the comments in the table. In particular, we should note the point that Margaret Ewing raised on the agriculture and fisheries council, which is that its meeting of 22 November is "unlikely to take place". Obviously, that has implications for the setting of quotas for 2005, which would normally happen at the December council. As I am not sure whether any implications arise from the delay, I ask the clerks to take up the point with the Executive.

As members have no further points to raise, I will move on to the letter from the Minister for Health and Community Care about the European working time directive, which gives some background as to how the directive is being applied.

Once again, the letter demonstrates a certain nonsense in how the directive is being applied. On-call doctors are considered to be working when they are sleeping in hospital premises whereas on-call power company engineers, for example, are not considered to be working when they are sleeping at home. The working time directive has created many areas of conflict and I commend the nations that are now seeking opt-outs.

The minister's letter is quite helpful. The paper also helpfully explains a lot of what was not clear beforehand. Given the potential for the United Kingdom to resolve some of the issues, we should hold out for that. It is good to have the explanation.

The minister's letter is helpful. We need to examine further the point that Phil Gallie made about the apparent contradictions in the application of the directive, particularly given the need to resolve some of the difficult issues that affect a range of public sector service provision.

We note the minister's reply. Obviously, in due course, as part of our continuing scrutiny, we will look again at the issues.

Meeting closed at 15:37.