The CBI has vowed to continue the fight against proposals that it believes will be bad for British business at all levels.

The proposals in question, should they be implemented, would transfer responsibility for pay and conditions for temporary workers from the agency that employs them to the company in which they work. MEPs have struck out a six-week threshold – proposed by the Commission – before the new responsibilities would apply.

The proposals, said the CBI, would mean a significant fall in the demand for agency workers because of added administrative burden and the loss of all-important flexibility,' said director general Digby Jones. 'The legislation will cause greater harm here because the UK has two thirds of all the agency workers in the EU. It is no coincidence that we also have the lowest unemployment. As many as 160,000 employment opportunities will be destroyed, opportunities that are vital routes into work for the unemployed, ex-offenders or working mums.' He asked: 'Why can't Brussels concentrate on getting those out of work into work rather than follow a pull-up-the-ladder approach?' A six-week exemption should be extended to 12 months, he added. 'It is time Brussels caught up with reality.'