Text adopted on 9.4.92

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice of 25 July 1991 (the Stoeckel judgment),

- having regard to Conventions Nos. 89 and 171 of the International Labour Organization,

- having regard to the proposal for a directive on the organization of working time, the opinion of the European Parliament and the amended Commission proposal,

- having regard to Directive 76/207/EEC on equal treatment for men and women,

A. whereas the judgment of the Court of Justice in the Stoeckel case on night working condemns only unequal treatment of men and women as regards night working, not the prohibition on night working provided this respects the principle of equal treatment between men and women,

B. having regard to the opinion of the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities and the resolution by the European Trade Union Confederation on the implications of the above judgment,

C. whereas the Commission, referring to this judgment, has called on the Member States to denounce ILO Convention No. 89 and bring national legislation into line with this judgment,

D. whereas this denunciation has taken place at a time when ILO Convention No. 171 of 6 June 1990 on night working has not yet come into effect; whereas there is no Community legislation in this area either,

1. Considers that night working may have adverse effects on the health of both women and men and on their family and social lives, and should be banned in principle, though with the possibility of exemption in specific cases justified for technical or individual reasons, in accordance with agreements at sectoral, national or international level negotiated between management and workforce, taking account of the general interests of society and the working environment;

2. Considers it essential for the Commission to propose an action programme on the possibility of reconciling work with social and family life;

3. Deplores the carelessness of the Commission in permitting a situation to arise in which no night working legislation exists at Community level, thus incurring the risk of deregulation of night working, since Member States are no longer required to respect minimum international standards;

4. Regrets that the amended proposal for a directive on the organization of working hours, which is intended to regulate night working, has taken only negligible account of Parliament's amendments;

5. Calls on the Social Affairs Council to adopt the directive on shorter working hours, whilst respecting Parliament's position that night working should on principle be banned and ensuring that the directive does not infringe the Member States' right to maintain, apply or introduce legislation more favourable to workers;

6. Notes the need for a general approach to the specific problems of night working, shiftwork etc. within the framework of legislation on working hours, taking account of ILO Recommendation No. 178;

7. Instructs its Committee on Social Affairs to make representations to the Council with a view to reopening negotiations on the directive;

8. Requests the Member States to ratify ILO Convention No. 171 as soon as possible, in spite of its imperfections;

9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the ILO, the ETUC and UNICE.