EP committee proposes 20-week maternity leave
Member states split over proposals
A European Parliament committee has agreed on a series of amendments to extend the minimum maternity leave entitlement to 20 weeks as well as introducing a two-week, fully paid parental leave period for fathers.
The committee was appointed to deal with a European Commission proposal to increase the minimum full-paid maternity leave entitlement to 18 weeks in all EU member states.
In a vote taken in Brussels, the Women's Rights Committee adopted a report by Socialist MEP Edite Estrela extending the duration of maternity leave to at least 20 weeks, of which at least six weeks will have to be taken after birth to encourage women to breastfeed as long as possible.
To avoid penalising women who have children, the EP committee is also proposing to make it compulsory for employers to pay mothers their full salary for six weeks after giving birth. If member states decide to approve lower salary payments, employers would have to settle for a minimum 85 per cent salary threshold.
The committee is also proposing that fully paid additional maternity leave should be granted in the case of premature childbirth, stillbirth, Caesarean section, multiple births or births of children with disabilities.
Fathers will also benefit if this proposal goes through. The EP committee is proposing the introduction of paternity leave - or co-maternity leave - with a compulsory minimum of two weeks' leave after the child is born.
Before coming into force, the amendments will have to be confirmed by the EP plenary in a vote next month and will also require the approval of member states.
It is unclear whether the committee's position will be backed by the majority of MEPs in May's plenary session, although with the vote being so close to June's European elections, the approval of such amendments becomes more possible.
However, some member states, including Malta, will be less keen, since they had already expressed caution over the original Commission proposal to boost compulsory fully-paid maternity leave to 18 weeks.
The additional two weeks for mothers and fathers is expected to raise more eyebrows at the Council of Ministers, particularly because of the additional costs of such measures.
Although expressing himself in favour of more support to women to strike a balance between work and family, Social Policy Minister John Dalli had warned that the proposal might have negative repercussions - particularly for small and medium enterprises.
He also questioned the timing of this proposal as Europe was trying to maximise competitiveness in an effort to retain employment in the current economic crisis.
If the EP's latest proposal sees the light of day, Malta will have to grant would-be mothers a further six weeks in addition to their current entitlement of 14 weeks. Fathers will also get two fully paid weeks of paternal leave - up from the current two days entitlement.