European Parliament votes for 20-week maternity leave

The European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg passed yesterday a resolution in favour of extending the minimum maternity leave across the EU from 14 weeks to 20 weeks fully paid.

An entitlement to paid paternity leave of at least two weeks was also approved by a majority of Members.

MEP, gathered in Strasbourg in plenary session, have voted on a proposal made by the European Commission in 2008 to revise the 1992 Maternity Leave Directive, extending the maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks.

The resolution, drafted by Socialist MEP Edite Estrela, has been adopted by 390 votes in favour, 192 against and 59 abstentions.

Now that the Parliament has finally adopted its position on the 2008 Commission’s proposals, the next step will be for the member States to discuss all the issues concerned in the Council of Ministers.

The duration of leave and the costs of remuneration have been controversial. Some national governments, in particular those of Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as business and employers’ organizations, have opposed to the suggestion that women should receive full pay while they are on maternity leave. Opponents point out that covering the costs of maternity leave would be too expensive both for employers, and for governments’ public spending.

On the contrary, under this respect, Estrela points out that “EU governments, after having helped banks and enterprises, have to help families as well”.

‘If backed by European governments, this legislation will make a huge difference to the lives of millions of women across Europe’, explains Myria Vassiliadou, Secretary General of the European Women’s Lobby, one of the numerous women’s organizations from across the European Union which mobilized, before the vote, to have Estrela’s proposal included in the revisions to the Maternity Leave Directive.

Currently in Europe, women’s employment rates drop by more than 12% when they have children. The OECD found in 2006 that in countries where the maternity leave provisions are longest, female employment rates were also highest, with over 80% in Iceland and over 70% in Denmark and Sweden – well above the OECD average of 57%.