The European Parliament has voted by a massive majority to reduce junior doctors' working hours to 48 hours per week within four years. Yesterday's vote puts the parliament in conflict with the EU Council of Ministers, which favours a 13-year phase-in period.
The parliament in Strasbourg voted by 455 votes to three, with 29 abstentions, in favour of including junior doctors within the working time directive. It sets an upper limit of 48 hours per week for all workers with several exceptions.
These include junior doctors, seafarers and several categories of transport workers.
When the working time directive was made in May, the European Commission favoured a seven-year transition period for junior doctors with an upper limit of 54 hours per week. However, the council, at the instigation of the Irish and British governments, favoured a 13-year period for phasing in a 48-hour week for junior doctors.
The parliament has now decided that junior doctors should be included within four years.
All Irish MEPs voted in favour of this despite the position taken by the Government in the Council of Ministers. There would be an initial upper limit of 54 hours per week.
The parliament's decision now goes back to the Council of Ministers, which has three months to consider the parliament's vote. If it rejects the MEPs' view, a process of conciliation will begin.
This could take up to 12 weeks. It is thought that if the process goes to conciliation, a seven-year transitional period would be adopted.
This was the original position adopted by the European Commission in May. If no compromise is reached, the directive, as it applies to junior doctors, would fall. A spokesman for the British Medical Association, speaking in Strasbourg yesterday, said this would be "the worst possible outcome".
There are 2,700 junior doctors in Ireland working up to 120 hours a week.
