EWL press coverage

MEPs urged to reject new EU-wide maternity laws

Investing in mothers and children costs far less -
Myria Vassiliadou, of the European Women’s Lobby

By Martin Banks - 18th October 2010

MEPs have been warned that new maternity rights for women due to be voted upon by parliament will "turn the clock back to the 1920s for female employment".

There are fears that raising the amount of full paid maternity leave from 14 to 20 weeks will drive private business away from employing young women.

British MEPs are incensed that parliament will press ahead with a vote tomorrow on the controversial maternity rights directive while ignoring an official internal study which finds it will cost the UK about €1.7bn a year.

There is a big push to vote down the directive which would guarantee at least 20 weeks fully paid leave for new mothers, and two for fathers.

Women in the UK are currently entitled to 12 months off, with the first six weeks on 90 per cent pay followed by 33 weeks on statutory maternity pay. The remainder is unpaid.

One parliamentary insider told this website that an "extremely close" vote is likely with a possible compromise being for 18 paid weeks and for the level of pay to be established by member states, as originally proposed by the European commission.

Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom warned that smaller operators in particular would be less likely to hire those of child-rearing age because of the potential costs they faced if the employee fell pregnant.

He said, "If this legislation had been specifically designed to discourage the employment of young women, the EU could not have done a better job.

"The costs to business will simply serve as a further reason to not employ young women of child-bearing age.

"Absurd legislation such as this closes the door on opportunities for young women and consigns them to a role as second class citizens, trapped at home by the stupidity of legislators.

"It will single-handedly turn back the clock to the 1920s by forcing employers to avoid exposure to the penalties by not hiring young women.

"We know that these plans will cost billions but what is unquantifiable is the damage they will do to women’s job prospects."

Marina Yannakoudakis, a British Tory MEP, said, "These proposals are going to cost small businesses and our public services billions of pounds and lead to further indirect discrimination against women in the workplace.

"National governments should decide what maternity leave provisions they can afford, and women should choose the best arrangements for them and their families. The EU needs to butt out and drop this crazy proposal.

"This is a badly thought out law, being forced through without any consideration of the far-reaching consequences."

Adam Marshall, British Chambers of Commerce director of policy, warned that SMEs would suffer. "We find it troubling that MEPs effectively want to create additional costs for the UK which will be borne by businesses and individuals alike. It has come at the wrong time," he said.

The BCC has written to all UK MEPs and lobbied other member states to vote against the proposals, including Germany where the proposals could increase annual costs by 1.9bn euros.

The UK Federation of Small Businesses says the plans are unaffordable while Liliane Volozinkskis, of the European Association for Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, said, "It is not the right time to bring forward a proposal when employers are struggling with the financial crisis."

But Myria Vassiliadou, of the European Women’s Lobby, said it was a "myth" that the proposal would overload businesses with costs.

She made a robust defence of the proposals, saying, "These provisions are an imperative to ensure human rights and gender equality, but they are equally an imperative to ensure Europe’s social and economic sustainability.

"With our ageing population, we simply cannot afford to exclude women from the labour market, and we cannot afford ever plummeting birth-rates.

"Maternity, paternity and parental leave provisions are immediate investments in better, more equal societies, and long-term investments in healthy economies."

She said the EU GDP would rise almost 30 per cent if gender gaps were eliminated. The growth potential is as high as 35 per cent in the UK, the Netherlands, Greece and Malta.

Vassiliadou added, "In 24 out of 27 member states, it is the state and not employers who takes on the costs of maternity leave provisions.

"This is most certainly a worthwhile investment. European governments spent trillions of euros in the last years rescuing banks, car and construction companies.

"Investing in mothers and children costs far less and is investing in the future of society as a whole.

"This is exactly the right time to invest a comparably low amount of money to empower half of the current population - not to mention the next generation."

Latest video

EWL event "Progress towards a Europe free from all forms of male violence" to mark the 10th aniversary of the Istanbul Convention, 12 May 2021.

Facebook Feed

Get Involved