Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-18-Speech-1-092"
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"en.20101018.13.1-092"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank all the honourable Members for taking part in this important, stimulating and, I would say, also very passionate debate.
In this vein, the Commission welcomes the amendments which are aimed at maintaining the 18 weeks minimum leave, set an alternative level of remuneration, keep the reference to sick leave, and allow for other forms of leave to be counted as maternity leave.
All this under the proviso that it does not lead to the weakening of existing protection. Rolling back in this respect cannot be an option for the European Union.
I very much hope that Parliament and the Council will be able to reach a compromise. The Commission position aims to breach the gap between the positions of the two institutions and to provide a solid basis for future discussion.
The improvement of conditions for women in Europe must be our ultimate goal. They contribute enormously to society and society must find a way to pay them back.
Even though we are looking at these issues from different angles, most of us can agree on several things. Maternity leave should not be penalised; we have to work very hard to achieve equality of pay; and we have to study very carefully the economic consequences of the decisions we take here.
Several of you referred to the issue of paternity or parental leave. I would like just to remind you that the newly adopted parental leave directive grants a minimum of eight months for parents per child. For the first time, we have legal encouragement for fathers at EU level to take leave.
A whole month of leave is lost if the father does not take his responsibility. This directive will soon be in force and we will build on this progress and look carefully at further proposals on paternity leave.
As I said in my opening remarks, we are now studying the situation and we will be back to you very soon with our results.
Allow me to underline the encouragement of fathers to take part in parenting with a personal remark. I was lucky enough to be present at the deliveries of two of my three children. Of course, during that time in the hospital, the most I could do was put on a brave face and pretend that I was neither worried nor scared and try and offer my wife the highest moral support I could. Sometimes, however, it was my wife and the kind nurses who took care of me, so I could offer this moral support! I will never forget the very important moments after the delivery and the first few days when I could help my wife with the newborn baby.
It is very clear that it is not just mothers who need to bond with a newborn child. The fathers need to do the same and we need to encourage them and change the paternal pattern and create the conditions where fathers can also bond with their newborn babies.
Coming back to the reports we were discussing today, and with regard to Mrs Thomsen’s report on precarious work, I have taken careful note of what has been said. I can assure you that the Commission will back up action to improve the working conditions of precarious female workers by monitoring national employment policy and by providing structural fund support in particular.
With regard to Mrs Estrela’s comprehensive work on the Commission’s proposal for a strengthened maternity leave directive, we are indeed trying to strike a very difficult balance. We need to ensure the fundamental rights of female workers, but we should not give an excuse to Member States to stop these very important negotiations. We need to study the models which offer us a high employment rate and high fertility rates at the same time."@en1
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