Facts
- A directive limiting working weeks to 48 hours in length was adopted on a “health and safety of workers” legal basis requiring a special legislative procedure to be followed, where the European Parliament could not block it
- The directive also had economic effects, so may well have been adopted under Art 114 TFEU, which would have given more power to the European Parliament
- The UK sought to annul the Directive for being based on the wrong legal basis
Issue
- Was it correct to adopt the directive on the health and safety of workers legal basis?
Decision
- Yes
Reasoning
- As the principal purpose of the directive was the health and safety of workers, it was validly adopted and could not be annulled; its economic effects were merely ancillary
- As the two legal bases were not equally applicable, the question of Parliamentary involvement did not arise, following the rules set out in Titanium Dioxide [1991]
