A Good “Package”

The European Commission proposed a package of measures “aimed at improving work and family life balance” on October 3. The EU Parliament and Council will now discuss both proposals in co-decision procedure.Longer maternity leaves. The “package” of proposals envisaging longer and better maternity leave also for self-employed women, aim to improve and update EU legislation in view of harmonizing the situation throughout the 27 Member States. Accordingly, the minimum period of leave is extended from 14 to 18 weeks with 100% salary. Member States have the possibility of setting a ceiling provided it is not below sick pay. Family-related leaves currently entail a lower salary. Women can decide to take a portion of their leave before and after childbirth. The proposal improves protection also of self-employed women who can choose to avail themselves of the new conditions. “There should be stronger protection against dismissal – explained EU Commissioner for Social Affairs and employment Vladimir Spidla – while the employer must ensure to women the right to return to same job or an equivalent after taking family-related leave”.The family and work. “Often women that give birth to a child are compelled to give up their job and their salary”, Spidla remarked. “The new proposals will enable women to stay in the labour market while addressing the question of demographic ageing. Those countries with more women in employment are also the countries with the highest birth rates”. Presently 13 of the 27 Member States already have 18 weeks of maternity leave. The blueprints submitted by the Executive will now be examined by the Euro-Parliament and by national governments, hoping that approval will be given by 2009. EU States will have two years to introduce the legislation in national law. Furthermore, “in the longer term, the Commission would also like to improve other forms of family leave, such as paternity leave and adoption leave”. Concrete results. The Executive’s initiatives are expected to have outstanding concrete effects: in fact, millions of women throughout Europe will be entitled to longer maternity leave. “The work-life balance is one of the major challenges faced by millions of men and women throughout Europe”, Spidla pointed out. “But having children too often costs women their income and their job prospects. Only 65.5% of women with dependent children are in work, compared to 91.7% of men”. The European bishops members of COMECE (the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community) positively received the Commission’s set of proposals.Child-care facilities. The second aspect addressed in the proposals are child-care services which Commissioner Spidla defines “insufficient”. In fact, the report finds that “although there has been some progress”, child-care facilities before school-age (nurseries for children under 3, and kindergartens for children under 6), “don’t meet the needs” of the families. The report acknowledges that “most countries failed to meet the ‘Barcelona targets’ for childcare provision set in 2002 requesting that 90% of children between three and school age and 33% of children under three have access to customized childcare facilities. Financing by the Union. Spidla explained that the request of education and childcare services is increasing across the EU but childcare facilities are insufficient. “National governments need to address the challenge and the EU will support their efforts with half a billion euro of EU funding up until 2013”, Vladimir Spidla explained. Thus, Brussels is planning new structures for children, however it this is also possible “by professionalizing informal childcare, for example by setting quality standards, improving the conditions of employment and remuneration, and staff training”. To this regard, the European Social Fund enables financing of a number of co-financed projects.