Britain is waging a battle with Europe over how many hours workers should work in a dispute that will come to a conclusion next month when the European Union tackles the matter. At issue is Britain's exemption from what is known as the working time directive, EU legislation setting a maximum workweek of 48 hours. Most of the 25 EU member countries have adopted the law, which was introduced in 1993 as a health and safety measure. Britain chose from the start to opt out of the legislation on the ground that limiting working hours risked reducing competitiveness and limited workers' choices.
See "U.K. fights to retain workweek exemption", Dan Bilefsky, International Herald Tribune, October 16, 2006