parkfell
Unfortunately I don't believe that this is the case. The vote in the European Parliament yesterday does not allow for anymore 'averaging' of hours over a period of time which (I think) was part of the original opt-out clause.
Instead, what is being said (allegedly due to health and safety reasons which is how the vote went through) is that a working week will consist of 48 hours maximum with at least 11 hours rest between shifts. From what I understand, this also includes standby or on-call time as well (within the 48 hours).
It will probably never happen as the Council of Europe is likely to vote it out, but I can see a lot of businesses (not just aviation related ones) being concerned this morning.
airmail