Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-18-Speech-1-024"
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"en.20101018.13.1-024"2
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"I would firstly like to thank the shadow rapporteur and the rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs for the collaboration and the work which we have accomplished together. A word of thanks is also due to many non-governmental organisations and unions, to the experts who participated in the presentation workshop for the financial impact study, to the secretariats of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and of my political group, to the Policy Department of the European Parliament, and to my assistants. All of them were tireless, and showed great professionalism and ability.
This directive is already eighteen years old, and it is outdated. The process of revising it has been long and problematic. It is now time for Parliament to decide, without further delay, to meet the expectations and needs of European families.
The proposals adopted by the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality ensure the twin objectives arising from extending the legal basis: defending health and safety in the workplace for workers who are pregnant, who have recently given birth, or who are breastfeeding, and promoting gender equality and the reconciliation of professional and family life. At the same time, this will help to stem the demographic decline of recent decades.
One hundred years ago, the European population made up 15% of the world population. In 2050 it is not expected to make up more than 5%. Ageing and the consequent reduction of the active population undermine the sustainability of social security systems and economic growth itself. For this reason, motherhood cannot be viewed as an illness or a burden on the economy, but rather as a service to society.
The duration of maternity leave in the 27 Member States varies between 14 and 52 weeks, and payment for leave is also very varied, with 100% of earnings being paid in 13 countries. I realise that the current economic climate is not favourable to increasing social spending, but this is a good investment in our collective future, and it does not have the high costs that many are claiming it does. The financial impact study concludes that the costs of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality’s proposal will be completely covered if it contributes to an increase of only 1% in the participation of women in the labour market. These are balanced and workable proposals, in line with the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation and the World Health Organisation.
Twenty weeks is a sufficient amount of time to help women to recover from childbirth, encourage breastfeeding and enable firm bonds to be formed between mother and child. A longer period of time could affect the reintegration of women into the labour market. A payment of 100% of earnings is fair because families should not be financially penalised for having the children that they want and, moreover, the children that Europe needs to tackle the demographic challenge.
The right to paternity leave is already recognised in 19 Member States, with payment of 80% or 100% of average earnings. The involvement of fathers in their children’s lives contributes to their healthy physical and psychological development. It is a right for fathers and children.
Throughout the whole process, I have expressed my complete openness to a broader consensus, and I hope that those who care about the well-being of women, families and children will support this report. In view of the Europe 2020 strategy objectives, there will be no justification for maternity leave not being a period of 20 weeks, paid in full, from 2020. I therefore urge you to support Amendments 126, 127 and 128. For the same reason, I cannot support amendments which scandalously aim to reduce the rights of families."@en1
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