The 3rd WTD conciliation committee broke down tonight (27 April) ending the round of negotiations without agreement. The Council and European Parliament were unable to agree, in particular on the issue of the opt-out. With the deadline for reaching an agreement rapidly approaching and the differences between the parties so great, it was agreed there was no value in continuing the negotiations any further.

Parliament and Council could not find a compromise on three crucial points: the opt-out, on-call time and multiple contracts. This is the first time that no agreement could be reached at the Conciliation stage since the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty which significantly extended the scope of the co-decision procedure.

The Conciliation Committee, composed of delegations from Parliament and Council decided that it was not possible to reach an agreement. This decision was adopted by an overwhelming majority within the EP delegation (15 votes in favour, 5 abstentions and 0 against). The main stumbling block was the opt-out.

The dossier in its current form will formally fall when the conciliation timetable reaches its conclusion in May. It will then be for the European Commission to decide how to proceed.

The collapse sees the end of the European Parliament’s proposal to phase out the opt-out in three years. The existing Working Time Directive remains in force, including the opt-out as it currently stands.

General Secretary, John Barton stated “The RFU welcomes the news that the status-quo will remain due to a lack of an agreement. This news is without doubt a major victory for the UK Fire & Rescue Service and Retained Duty System personnel in particular. After months of hard work undertaken by the RFU, lobbying MPs and MEPs it is without precedent that we obtained cross-party support to challenge the proposal; it would appear that common sense has prevailed at last.

However, we are not naive enough to believe that this problem has gone away for good, we are fully aware that the European Parliament will look to submit further proposals to amend the Working Time Directive sometime in the future. However, having now raised awareness within the political parties that without the individual Opt-Out, the Retained Duty System, which is the backbone of the UK Fire & Rescue Service, would struggle to function. Our local communities would suffer in terms of the provision of fire cover which is currently provided by Retained personnel.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere thanks to all those who have supported our campaign over the past 4 months; we hope we can count on your valuable support should this issue be raised again in the future”

John Barton
General Secretary

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