This week the European Parliament is considering revisions to the Working Time Directive of 2003. The initial Working Time Directive of 23 November 1993 made provision in Article 5 for a minimum weekly rest period, which "shall in principle include Sunday." However, on 12 November 1996 the European Court of Justice annulled this provision, finding "that the Council has failed to explain why Sunday, as a weekly rest day, is more closely connected with the health and safety of workers than any other day of the week."

On 22 October 2008, seven Members of Parliament from the ranks of the European People's Party (EPP), the Party of European Socialists (PSE) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) tabled the following amendment to the Working Time Directive that would protect Sunday:

In Article 5, paragraph 2a shall be added: "The minimum rest period referred to in the first paragraph shall in principle include Sunday."

According to a survey by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND), the likelihood of sickness and absenteeism problems in establishments that work on Saturdays and Sundays is 1.3 times greater compared to establishments that do not require staff to work on the weekend. The proposed amendment therefore states:

"The likelihood of sickness in companies that require staff to work on Sundays is greater than in companies that do not require staff to work on Sundays. The health of workers depends, among other factors, on their opportunities to reconcile work and family life, to establish and maintain social ties and to pursue their spiritual needs. Sunday, as the traditional weekly rest day, contributes to these objectives more than any other day of the week."

If the European Parliament accepts this amendment, it should cause Christians mixed feelings. On the one hand, it would represent a reversal in the cultural tide that has so seriously undermined family and spiritual life in Britain in recent years. On the other hand, it would suggest that there are benefits to be gained from a powerful supranational government in Europe. However, as we have noted previously, much of biblical law is designed to protect and give function to the family and local community, and Scripture is always cautious about the power of Government; e.g. "When the people want a king 'like the nations round about' (totalitarian Canaanite city-states), Samuel uses the strongest possible language to warn them of the consequences of centralised state power (1 Samuel 8)." (Should Christians support the euro?, Cambridge Papers Vol.7 No.4) This concern arises from the recognition that power will always be abused sooner or later - and usually sooner.

Nevertheless, there is a degree of irony that a body that has systematically removed Christian symbols from its constitution might now effectively acknowledge that God's ways are indeed in all our best interests. Another verse comes to mind: "When Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them." (Romans 2:14-15)

N.B. The Jubilee Centre continues to conduct research into the contempory relevance of the Bible's teaching on the Sabbath, currently as part of a theological study into our use of time that will feed into a future suite of resources exploring how to live an ethical lifestyle. However, the Keep Sunday Special Campaign, originally established in 1983 by the Jubilee Centre, has since 2006 been run by Relationships Foundation.

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