Parlementaire vragen 10 november 2009 E-5526/09 SCHRIFTELIJKE VRAAG van Jean-Luc Bennahmias (ALDE) aan de Commissie

 Betreft: Vrijwilligebrandweerkorpsen en werktijden  Antwoord(en)  Richtlijn 93/104/EG(1) van de Raad van 23 november 1993 betreffende een aantal aspecten van de organisatie van de arbeidstijd — die, enkele uitzonderingen daargelaten, van toepassing is op alle beroepssectoren, en in elk geval ook op de brandweersector (artikel 1, lid 3) — bepaalt: —dat onder „arbeidstijd” wordt verstaan „de tijd waarin de werknemer werkzaam is, ter beschikking van de werkgever staat en zijn werkzaamheden of functie uitoefent, overeenkomstig de nationale wetten en/of gebruiken” (artikel 2, lid 1);—dat voor elk tijdvak van zeven dagen een minimumrusttijd van vierentwintig uren verplicht is, waaraan de verplichte elf uren dagelijkse rusttijd worden toegevoegd (artikelen 3 en 5);—dat de gemiddelde arbeidstijd in elk tijdvak van zeven dagen, inclusief overwerk, niet meer dan achtenveertig uren mag bedragen (artikel 6, lid 2);—dat nationale bepalingen die gunstiger zijn voor de werknemers, kunnen prevaleren (artikel 15);—dat er voor bepaalde werkzaamheden kan worden afgeweken van de bepalingen inzake de wekelijkse rusttijd en de maximale wekelijkse arbeidstijd, met name wanneer de duur van de arbeidstijd wegens „bijzondere kenmerken (...) niet wordt gemeten en/of vooraf bepaald”, of in geval van „bewakings-, surveillance- en wachtdiensten die verband houden met de noodzakelijke bescherming van goederen en personen” (artikel 17, lid 2). In meerdere lidstaten (met name in België en Frankrijk) oefenen vrijwillige brandweerlieden — die juridisch als communautaire werknemers kunnen worden beschouwd — hun werkzaamheden uit onder omstandigheden waarin zij dikwijls de door het Gemeenschapsrecht gestelde grenzen ruimschoots overschrijden, met name wanneer zij er ook nog een baan naast hebben. 1. Zou de Commissie het Europees Parlement kunnen toelichten hoe zij vindt dat de bepalingen van Richtlijn 93/104/EG van de Raad van 23 november 1993 moeten worden toegepast in geval van vrijwilligebrandweerkorpsen, in het bijzonder de bepalingen inzake „wekelijkse rusttijd” en „maximale wekelijkse arbeidstijd”? Is zij van oordeel dat de werkzaamheden van vrijwilligebrandweerkorpsen onder de afwijkingsbepalingen van deze richtlijn vallen? 2. Is de Commissie voornemens een initiatief te nemen om vrijwilligebrandweerkorpsen, gezien hun specifieke karakter en hun taak van algemeen belang, arbeidsomstandigheden en arbeidstijden te garanderen die passen bij de aard van hun werkzaamheden?

E-5526/09EN Answer given by Mr Špidla on behalf of the Commission (18.12.2009)

First, the Honourable Member asks whether the Commission considers that the working conditions of voluntary firefighters in Belgium and France fall within the scope of the Working Time Directive1.

As the Honourable Member correctly observes, the Directive applies to the normal activities of public firefighting services2. Whether the activities of voluntary firefighters are covered by the Working Time Directive depends, in the first instance, on whether such persons are ’workers’ within the meaning of the Directive. Directive 2003/88/EC itself does not define this term, but the Framework Health and Safety Directive3 states that a ’worker’ means ’any person employed by an employer’ while an ’employer’ is defined as ’any natural or legal person who has an employment relationship with the worker and has responsibility for the undertaking and/or establishment’. Therefore, there must be an employment relationship between the voluntary firefighter and the public service concerned. Whether this is the case or not, is primarily a matter for national law.

To the extent that the Directive applies to voluntary firefighters, it follows that the two provisions specifically mentioned by the Honourable Member - Article 5 on minimum weekly rest periods and Article 6 on limits to weekly working time - also apply. It should be noted that it is average weekly working time – and not working time in each week – which is limited to 48 hours under Article 6.

Secondly, the Honourable Member asks whether the Directive allows derogations, in the case of voluntary firefighters, from the rights to minimum weekly rest periods and the limits to weekly working time fixed by the Directive. The Honourable Member cites specifically the derogations provided under Article 17(2) (for certain types of activities), and under Article 17(1) (for activities where the length of the working day is not measured or predetermined.)

Article 17(2) allows derogations regarding minimum weekly rest periods in certain activities which include public emergency services. It should be noted, however, that the derogation is conditional on the requirement that the worker concerned must generally receive equivalent compensatory rest for any missed or delayed minimum rest hours. Effectively, this derogation allows minimum rest hours to be temporarily delayed, but does not allow them to be missed altogether (save in very exceptional circumstances). Nor does Article 17(2) allow any derogation regarding the limit to weekly working time.

Article 17(1) does allow for derogations from minimum rest periods and/or the limit to weekly working time ’when, on account of the specific characteristics of the activity concerned, the duration of the working time is not measured and/or predetermined or can be determined by the workers themselves, and particularly in the case of: (a) managing executives or other persons with autonomous decision-taking powers…’. If voluntary firefighters in France and Belgium are ’workers’ under the Directive, then it would have to be further determined, as a question of fact, whether their conditions of employment fall within the terms of Article 17(1), which appears to envisage a relatively high level of employee autonomy.

Thirdly, the Honourable Member asks whether the Commission plans any initiative to provide voluntary firefighters with working time provisions which are adapted to their specific activity. The Commission has already made a proposal to amend the Working Time Directive, which would, for example, have allowed compensatory rest to be taken ’within a reasonable period’ to be fixed by national law or collective agreement4. Unfortunately, the Council and European Parliament were unable to find agreement on this amending proposal during the conciliation stage (April 2009). President Barroso informed the Parliament in September 2009 that the Commission will present a new amending proposal, following consultation of the European social partners and a social impact assessment. The new proposal will be comprehensive in scope. However, the social partners at European level may, during such a consultation process, inform the Commission of their wish to open negotiations on part or all of the issues concerned.