BRUSSELS - EU lawmakers sought Wednesday to defend the European social welfare model by backing a reform to limit working hours in the European Union, dealing a blow to Britian's campaign against the plans.
The reform, which also has to be discussed and negotiated by EU governments, could lead to an opt-out from the current 48-hour per week limit being phased out.
The text, which calls for the opt-out to be scrapped after a transition period of three years, won the backing of 345 Members of the European Parliament while 264 voted against it and 43 abstained.
The vote marks a setback for the British government, which wants to keep the opt-out, which is in wide use in Britain. It is used elsewhere in the European Union mostly in specific sectors such as hotels and healthcare.
But the text also goes much further than a reform proposed by the EU's executive commission, which made a proposal last September calling for the opt-out to be retained but only an individual basis.
Alejandro Cercas, the Member of European Parliament who prepared the text, hailed the vote as small victory in a wider debate about the future of European welfare systems.
"This a very important debate about the future of Europe, about a social Europe. The question is to know whether there will be a social Europe or a two-speed social Europe," he told a news conference in Strasbourg.
"We have won a political battle for citizens but the war continues," he added.
The strong showing in the European Parliament for enhanced workers' rights comes as the debate over the future of European social welfare model plays a central role in campaigns for and against the EU's first-ever constitution.
The French left, for instance, is deeply divided between those who are concerned that the charter betrays the European welfare model and those who think the constitution underpins its future in the face of globalisation.
With polls suggesting a tight race in the May 29 referendum in France on the constitution, concerns that the EU is not doing enough to protect workers' welfare have helped propelled the "No" vote within reach of victory.
However, in Britain, the "No" campaign is benefiting from opposite concerns that the EU meddles too much, adding to unneeded layers of bureaucracy.
The European Trade Union Confederation said in a statement the vote "demonstrates a commitment on the part of a large number of the political groups represented in the Parliament to play a significant role in defending the European social model and fundamental rights against neo-liberal ideas."
But representatives of business warned that the reform would put the competitivity of European companies at risk if it became law.
"Flexibility in working time is essential for the competitiveness of companies, in particular for SMEs (small and medium sized entreprises). But it is also in the interest of workers," said Philippe de Buck, secretary general of the UNICE businesss association.
Following the vote in the parliament, reforms to working time rules will go before EU governments, which have so far been holding off negotiations on the subject in order to see what happens first in the chamber.
The issue is currently dividing member states between those, led by Britain that want to preserve the opt and other countries, led by Sweden, that want it to be scrapped.
With Britain set to take over the EU's rotating presidency for six months in July, little progress is likely to be made until next year unless there is a sudden breakthrough before the end of June.
A commission spokeswoman said in Brussels after the vote that it "does not agree with the parliament" and still wanted an opt-out from the 48-hour limit to be possible on an individual basis.
"The proposal of the commission remains as it is," she added.
05/11/2005 13:39 GMT