In November 2001, a doctor working in a German hospital complained to the Commission, arguing that the country had not properly transposed the Working Time Directive, in particular concerning on-call times in the medical professions. He said that the German practice resulted in excessive working time for doctors, which entail risks to both doctors' and patients health.
At that time, the Commission responded by saying that a review of the directive was being prepared and that the complaint would be examined in the light of the revised directive. Indeed, a new directive ((COM) 2003/88) entered into force on 2 August 2004, partly replacing the old Working Time Directive (COM) 93/104. However, the new law did not bring about any changes that could have resulted in not regarding on-call time as working time.
The complainant who wrote to the Ombusdman has not received a single letter that "was more than an acknowledgement of receipt". He added: "It did not emerge from these letters that the Commission was seriously considering the purpose of the directive on working time or that it had made reasonable proposals for changes that would be equally fair towards employees and employers."
The Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, examined the case and came to the conclusion that the complainant was right in criticising the Commission's sluggish handling of the case. He recommended, on 20 September 2006, that: "The Commission should deal with the complainant's infringement complaint as rapidly and as diligently as possible." The Ombusdman gave the Commission until 15 December 2006 to do so.
Previously, the case of German doctors' on-call time has been brought before the European Court of Justice, which ruled, in September 2006, that under Directive 93/104/EC, on-call time must be fully considered as working time and remunerated accordingly (see EurActiv, 10 September 2003).
