At the 'Employment and Social Policy' (EPSCO) Council on Thursday 21 June, the member states of the EU agreed on a non-transferable paid parental leave with a remuneration established at an “adequate” level of one and a half months, when adopting the general orientation on the directive on the work-life balance. Unsurprisingly, the directive has been considerably watered down by the member states.
The term set for the non-transferable period is two months, meaning that the last two weeks of the non-transferable period will not be subject to a pay obligation. The agreement was born of a proposal by the Romanian delegation, which sought a compromise between a group of member states in favour of a non-transferable paid period of two months, which included Greece and Portugal, and another group of member states that called for one month, such as the Netherlands, Latvia and Austria. Readers may recall that the European Commission wanted a non-transferable paid period of four months.
The national delegations also agreed on “adequate” remuneration for paternity leave and parental leave. On this point, the Commission had proposed that leave be paid at the same level as the sickness pay in force in each member state.
Generally, the delegations relaxed the proposals tabled by the Commission, to the great consternation of the institution. For instance, paternity leave will be for ten days around the time of the birth of the child, but the level of remuneration will be entirely left to the discretion of the member states.
Similarly, the age of the child in relation to the request for flexible working arrangements will also be left up to the member states, whereas the current directive sets this at eight years, to the apparent regret of the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen, at a press conference.
The member states also opted for a bridging clause: when a member state has a more favourable regulatory framework for a given type of leave, it may request derogations for other types of leave.
Carers' leave will no longer have a fixed term (the Commission proposed five days) or minimum pay. As for the transposition time for the directive, this has been set at three years, against the Commission's proposal of two years.
The compromise general orientation did not struggle to obtain a qualified majority. Only the Netherlands and Denmark are reported to have voted against, and Poland and Hungary to have abstained.
All eyes are now on the European Parliament, which must reach its position in the near future. It seems to be inclined towards a non-transferable period of four months and pay representing 80% of the gross salary (see EUROPE 12020). “The trialogues are likely to be interesting”, Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova commented. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)