Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-25-Speech-2-589-000"
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"en.20111025.31.2-589-000"2
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"Madam President, the process of revising the Maternity Leave Directive began in 2008, when the Commission tabled its proposal. The European Parliament adopted my report a year ago, by a large majority. After all this time, what response does the Council have to give to European women and families? This initiative is part of what is known as the conciliation package. Of this package’s three proposals, only the revision of the Maternity Leave Directive is still awaiting the Council’s position: the other two were adopted in 2010.
It is therefore hard to understand the repeated postponement of the most comprehensive proposal defending the health and safety of women in the workplace, promoting gender equality and the reconciliation of professional and family life, and helping 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 likely to comprise more than five per cent. The ageing of the population and the resulting reduction in its size are threatening the sustainability of social security systems, and of economic growth itself. Maternity should therefore not be viewed as a burden on the economy, but rather as a service provided to society.
Moreover, the costs of my proposal – adopted by Parliament – are not as high as many claim. The financial impact study on the proposals adopted by the European Parliament concluded that the costs of the proposal will be completely covered if it contributes to an increase of only one per cent in the participation of women in the labour market. According to the Europe 2020 strategy targets, the rate of employment of men and women should reach 75%. Full-salary payments are fair because families should not be financially penalised for having the children that they want and that Europe needs. Contrary to the claims of certain Member States, the European Parliament’s proposals are balanced and workable, in line with the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation and the World Health Organisation.
I should like to thank the Polish Presidency – you in particular, Mr Mleczko – for the interest and diligence it has demonstrated with regard to clearing obstacles in this area. Despite the efforts of the current Presidency and the flexibility demonstrated by the European Parliament, the excuse of the financial crisis and austerity has taken precedence over everything else. That includes the defence of human rights, because that is what we are talking about when we discuss maternity leave and paternity leave: human rights.
There seems to be money for everything except meeting the public’s expectations. According to Eurobarometer, eight out of 10 Europeans are in favour of extending maternity leave to 20 weeks at full pay: in other words, they are in favour of the European Parliament’s proposal.
For all these reasons, I am asking the Council how can it continue to disrespect the position of the European Parliament, founded on an unprecedented debate and voted for by a significant majority from all political groups? How can the Council refuse to debate the adopted amendments with the European Parliament and negotiate their phasing in? How can the Council continue to ignore the will of the majority of the European public?
Europe is mired in a profound crisis, and more serious than the financial economic crisis is the leadership crisis. Difficult times such as these are when the lack of the great leaders of the past is most keenly felt: leaders with strategic vision and the ability to make decisions; courageous and visionary leaders; leaders able to differentiate between the essential and the incidental; leaders worthy of the public’s confidence. The crisis is not affecting everyone in the same way: we know that the crisis has been serving as an excuse for cutting state benefits, and we know that the European Council is quicker to help out banks than Member States in difficulty. For how long will the public accept this situation?
I shall conclude by saying what I said in another debate on this subject: times are hard, but this is when societies have the greatest need for daring decision makers, because, as the Roman poet, Horace, noted thousands of years ago, he who is afraid of turmoil ends up crawling."@en1
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