A 65-hour working week in Europe?

The EU ministers for economic affairs are currently negotiating the question of whether to raise the maximum number of weekly working hours from 48 to 65. Spain's socialist government has adopted a negative stance. The conservative daily La Razón comments: "In times of economic recession it seems only logical to revise the rules in favour of more flexibility. The goal is not to make employees work longer hours but to extend the upper limits [for working hours] in order to avoid the kind of situation that arises for example with doctors on call. Because the non-active hours are included as working hours, they force up a company's costs - whether state-owned or private - enormously."

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