The turbulent life of the Working Time Directive
| Published date | 01 February 2018 |
| Date | 01 February 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X18760547 |
| Subject Matter | Legal development |
Legal development
The turbulent life of the
Tobias Nowak
*
Abstract
The case of the Working Time Directive (WTD) is a prime example of a failed attempt by the
Member States and the Commission to counter rulings of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) by
legislative overrule. Outsourcing the decision making process to the social partners also did not
deliver the desired results. After years of trying to reform the WTD, the Commission changed its
strategy and issued an interpretive communication instead. However, it is doubtful that this
communication will solve all that is wrong with the WTD. What were the obstacles to legislative
overrule in this case? What other strategies in avoiding the consequences of CJEU rulings do the
Member States apply? What will the future of WTD look like?
Keywords
Working Time Directive, Court of Justice of the EU, interaction of law and politics, EU legislative
process, (failed) legislative overrule
1. Introduction
The Working Time Directive (WTD)
1
has been subject to an action for annulment, some infringe-
ment proceedings, numerous preliminary rulings, a number of unsuccessful social dialogues and
successful amendments of minor provisions, but failed attempts to reformulate its most contro-
versial provisions. Frustrated by a decade-long deadlock of the legislative process, the
*Department of Transboundary Legal Studies, Faculty of Law at the University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Corresponding author:
Tobias Nowak, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Department of Transboundary Legal Studies, Faculty of Law at the
University of Groningen, Oude Kijk in’t Jatstraat 5, Groningen, 9712 EA, Netherlands.
Email: t.nowak@rug.nl
1. Starting out as Council Directive 93/104/EC concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time, [1993] OJ L
307/18 and is now Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning
certain aspects of the organisation of working time, [2003] OJ L 299/9 (WTD 2003).
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2018, Vol. 25(1) 118–129
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1023263X18760547
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