The employer shall allow the secretary and the officers of the European Works Council the time necessary to carry out their duties up to a limit which, save in exceptional circumstances, may not exceed one hundred and twenty hours per year for each of them.
This time is considered as working time and is paid at the normal rate.
The time spent by the secretary and the members of the bureau at committee meetings and bureau meetings is not deducted from these one hundred and twenty hours.
Any employer who wishes to contest the use made of the time thus allocated shall refer the matter to the court.