MEPs approved by a substantial majority (490 votes to 82, 48 abstentions) the interinstitutional agreement reached on the directive on improving the work-life balance on Thursday 4 April.
“I believe that what we present today is a balanced legal act to introduce minimum rules that will give access rights to both men and women to parental leave, paternity leave and carers' leave, as well as right to request flexible working arrangements”, Maltese rapporteur David Casa (EPP) detailed shortly before the vote.
Thus, the parliamentarians endorsed the provisional agreement reached between the European Parliament and the EU Council at the end of January (see EUROPE 12179/2). In essence, the co-legislators agreed to set: - paternity leave of 10 days paid at the national level for sickness benefits; - parental leave at 4 months, including 2 months non-transferable (after 5 years), paid at an adequate level; - caregiver leave at 5 days per year without mention of any remuneration; - possibilities of work accommodation for parents up to the child's 8th year; - or the introduction of the notion of ‘second parent’ to cover same-sex couples in Member States where the legislation provides for this wording.
The agreement was generally welcomed by MEPs, although with some regret. Ernest Urtasun (Greens/EFA, Spain) acknowledged the real impact of this directive, recalling that 5 Member States will be called upon to introduce paternity leave into their legislative arsenal (Austria, Germany, Croatia, for example, do not provide for any paternity leave) and 8 to extend it (such as the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and Romania). The Member regretted that Parliament’s position (which provided for remuneration equivalent to 80% of gross salary for paternity leave – see EUROPE 12060/24) had not been adopted.
This position is shared by Tania González Peñas (GUE/NGL, Spain), who insisted on a remuneration of up to 100% of gross salary to avoid impoverishment of parents. The GUE/NGL tabled an amendment (99) along these lines, which was not accepted, however.
For her part, Tiziana Beghin (EFDD, Italy) would have liked more attention to be paid to microenterprises. As for Joëlle Mélin (ENF, France), she denounced the interference of the European Union, which “interferes in everything [...] up to the birth of children”, fearing a prevalence of personal life over professional life that could potentially undermine economic dynamism.
It now remains for the EU Council to adopt the agreement before the Directive can be entered in the Official Journal of the European Union. After that, the Member States have 3 years to transpose the directive and 5 years to add the last 2 weeks of paid parental leave. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)