An awkward partner? Britain's implementation of the Working Time Directive

The dominance of member states in the field of social policy has been tradi tionally depicted as one of the main hurdles facing the development of a Eu ropean social policy. Resistance by national government to the transfer of influence and control over social policy to the European level has been par ticularly true for Britain. Opposition to various initiatives, such as the Social Charter and Social Chapter has demonstrated this. It is in this cont ext that this article examines Britains implementation of the Working Time Directive. this being demonstrative of the distinction between member state s and the EU in the social policy arena. In this sense, the Working Time Di rective is significant not just because of the provisions it brings to Brit ish employees, but because it demonstrates the changing nature of the relat ionship between member states and the EU in the realm of social policy.