WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE SHOULD NOT APPLY TO THE SELF-EMPLOYED

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 17th Jun 2010

A North East MEP has criticised this week's vote in the European Parliament committing self-employed bus and lorry drivers to substantial working time restrictions.

A majority of Euro-MPs voted to reject the EU Commission's proposal that self-employed drivers continue to be exempted from the 2002 Working Time Directive on the road transport industry.

Speaking after the vote Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall, said:

"In my opinion, it is simply outrageous to restrict the hours a self-employed person is allowed to work as this will ultimately harm entrepreneurship.

"There are already rules in place to ensure that self-employed drivers have sufficient breaks and rest periods. These rules need to be strictly enforced to ensure road safety. However, there is no justifiable need to limit those drivers to only 45 working hours a week including administrative tasks and maintenance.

"I will work with the Commission and with the Coalition Government to make sure that the outcome of this vote does not lead to a bureaucratic nightmare."