EPSCO COUNCIL : MATERNITY LEAVE: MINISTERS REJECT PARLIAMENT'S POSITION.

From now on, future discussions within the Council on maternity leave will be based on the European Commission's position and not on that of the Parliament, which has been deemed to be backward-looking and unachievable by a number of member states. While ministers from the EU27 did not manage to reach a clear agreement on the directive on the improvement of the safety and health of pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth and women who are breastfeeding (first reading), they did make common cause against the Parliament. "Neither the length of the leave nor the basis for remuneration envisaged by the European Parliament achieved a consensus. So it seems more appropriate to start from the initial proposal by the Commission in the future," concluded Belgium's Employment Minister and current Council President Joelle Milquet, following the debate organised during the Employment and Social Affairs Council, on 6 December.

EIGHTEEN WEEKS

The Commission's initial proposal aimed to bring the minimum length of maternity leave to 18 weeks. That amounts to four weeks more than what is currently set out in Directive 92/85/EC but two weeks less than what the Parliament is advocating. This is a more realistic scenario, according to a majority of member states, who referred to the difficulties that their social protection systems were currently facing because of the economic and financial crisis. In the margins of the Council, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK produced a joint declaration to point out their concerns. "The amendment by the European Parliament of the initial proposal can lead, in several member states, to an outcome that would not be socially progressive. On that basis, we find it difficult to see how we could reach an agreement between the Parliament and the Council."

BRIDGING CLAUSE

In addition to the issue of the length of maternity leave and remuneration for it, the...