Strasbourg, 23/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The 1996 directive on parental leave provides for an individual right, for both men and women, of at least three months, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights stipulates that everyone is entitled to parental leave when a child is born or adopted. The Member States have applied the directive for the past two years but officials of European institutions have (in the case of childbirth) four months for women (but only two days for men, and, in the case of adoption, from two to ten weeks depending on the age of the child). European Ombudsman Jacob Söderman decided on the basis of this fact to open an own initiative investigation into parental leave within the European institutions. In October 2000, the European Commission had promised to settle the problem in a communication on leave relating to the family and adjustments in working hour flexibility, but has still not presented a formal proposal. The Ombudsman considers that, if the institutions cannot ensure that Community law is respected within their own organisation, then they cannot hope to have the respect of their own personnel, or of the public in general. He leaves the Commission until 31 January 2002 to respond.