Council to ditch MEPs’ maternity leave plans

Opposition to more time off for parents amid fear of harm to employment

National governments will next week dismiss a plan from the European Parliament to extend the basic right to maternity leave to 20 weeks on full pay.

In October, a majority of MEPs voted in favour of 20 weeks’ maternity leave and two weeks’ paternity leave, claiming a victory for gender equality and work-life balance. But the Parliament is facing stiff opposition from the Council of Ministers, where the plan has hit a nerve about national prerogatives to set social policy.

Unanimous opposition

EU employment and social affairs ministers meeting on Monday (6 December) will make clear their unanimous opposition to the plans, in a further sign not to expect a quick agreement on the draft law.

The conflict has arisen over the update of the 1992 directive on health and safety of pregnant workers. When it presented its proposal in 2008, the European Commission called for the extension of maternity leave from 14 weeks to 18 weeks and a guarantee that women would get at least sick-pay rates.

The Parliament argues that the EU should be more ambitious, reflecting the Union’s proposals on gender equality and citing the World Health Organization’s advice that new mothers should spend six months breastfeeding.

‘Regressive’ plans

France, Spain and the UK have been leading the opposition to the Parliament’s plans, arguing that they could have a negative effect by discouraging employers from hiring young women.

The plans have also fallen foul of the Swedish government, which fears damage to its ‘gender-blind’ system of parental leave. Italy and Sweden are among a minority of countries that could accept the 20-week proposal, but they object to the Parliament’s attempts to determine pay rates.

The Parliament has succeeded in uniting the Council around the view that the EU law should be restricted to basic health-and-safety standards, leaving national governments free to develop their own welfare systems.

Ministers are not expected to take decisions on the law next week, despite Belgian hopes of a political agreement before its stint in the rotating EU presidency comes to an end this month. However, the Parliament was late in agreeing its position, after deciding to commission an impact assessment of the costs and benefits of maternity leave at 14 and 20 weeks.

This study has not satisfied national governments, which are calling for a new impact assessment to be carried out.