Maternity leave plan rejected

EU member states dismiss European Parliament’s call for 20-week leave for mothers and two-week leave for fathers.

EU employment ministers have ruled out extending maternity leave to 20 weeks on full pay as demanded by the European Parliament in October.

Meeting in Brussels yesterday (6 December), a majority of the ministers rejected the Parliament’s position, saying it would cost employers and governments too much.

Ministers said that the European Commission’s original proposal, which envisaged extending the minimum period of maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks, would be an “acceptable basis for a compromise”.

Edite Estrela, a Portuguese centre-right MEP who drafted the Parliament’s opinion, said the Council had ignored the large majority in the Parliament who voted for the 20-week leave.

Esterla promised to work with the Council to reach an agreement that would “fulfil the needs of European families and of the European economy”.

Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers, has promised to make new recommendations in order to try to make progress on the dossier before the end of the year.

Ministers were also reluctant to grant two weeks’ paternity leave, another of the MEPs’ demands.

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