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EUROPEAN REVIEW

ISSUE 9 - Page 4

New working time directive delayed by junior doctor hours

THE PROPOSED DIRECTIVE on working time for those left out of the original 1993 measure, which the European Review first reported on in January 1999, is still not agreed by the various bodies in the European Union. This important extension of EU law, whose omission was mentioned as a contributory factor to railway accidents at the time of the Paddington rail disaster, has been delayed by arguments over what should happen to the hours of both seafarers and junior doctors.

Meanwhile there has been a demonstration of road transport drivers who are also presently excluded. Danny Bryan, president of the European Transport Federation (ETF) Road Transport Section said, 'we have been waiting 7 years for regulations to be introduced and enforced. Our patience has reached the end of the road. European drivers want clear signs of political willingness to regulate the sector properly'. The stumbling block in the case of the drivers is the position of those who are self-employed.		When the European Parliament came to debate this question it was the case of junior doctors which received most attention however. There was overwhelming support across the board for reinstating Parliament's first reading position with regard to the situation of junior doctors, i.e. that they should be brought within the scope of the directive, limiting the working week to 48 hours, within a 4 year period rather than the 13 year period agreed by EU Ministers.
	Employment Commissioner Diamantopoulou

Stephen Hughes (PES, North East) said it was just not realistic to expect junior doctors to be able to perform an 18 hour day effectively and Proinsias de Rossa (PES, Dublin) stressed that tired workers were a risk to themselves and others and considered it scandalous that Irish trainee doctors worked over 80 hours a week. He also underlined the dangers of lorry drivers falling asleep at the wheel and argued that there was a need to take steps to protect the public at large. Concluding for the Commission, Mrs Diamantopolou, who is the Commissioner with responsibility for employment, noted that the Council of Ministers was now proposing a 7 year transition period for junior doctors while Parliament was proposing a 4 year period. In her view, the Commission's half-way house proposal of a 5 year period was an appropriate solution. She cautioned against Parliament taking too extreme a position on this issue as this could lead to a long delay in the implementation of the proposal. The parliament however voted for the 4 year period and so the matter must go to the Conciliation Committee.

EU OAP SINGLES LESS LIKELY TO OWN HOME

A RECENT EUROSTAT study, based on 1995 figures, shows that on average in the EU, the percentage of owner-occupiers among the elderly matches the figure for the population as a whole, at around 60% of all households. However there is a large difference in the figures between elderly couples and elderly people living alone, who are less likely to be owner-occupiers and to live in a house, than households in general. There are also wide variations between Member States. In the Netherlands only 30% of elderly households own their home, compared with a figure of just under half for all households, 49% of elderly couples own their home and only one person in five among those living alone is an owner-occupier. These figures compare to 93% of elderly couples in Ireland owning their own homes (the Community average is 68%) and 84% of the elderly single occupiers in Greece (Community average: 50%).

COUNTRY	PERCENTAGE OF HOUSEHOLDS OWNING ACCOMMODATION IN 1995
	ELDERLY HOUSEHOLDS		ALL HOUSEHOLDS
	Couples	Living alone
Ireland	93	81	83
Greece	91	84	81
Spain	83	76	81
Italy	80	70	74
Luxembourg	82	64	69
Belgium	78	56	69
United Kingdom	71	50	68
Portugal	67	55	62
EU15	68	50	60
Denmark	74	33	57
France	77	52	56
Austria	57	35	49
Netherlands	40	21	49
Germany	52	31	42

Data not available for Finland and Sweden

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