THE EUROPEAN parliament will vote today on a controversial proposal that would extend maternity leave to 20 weeks on full pay.
The vote follows the narrow approval in March by the parliament’s women’s rights committee of a report which called for a European standard of 20 weeks’ fully paid maternity leave.
The report, which was drafted by Portuguese Socialist MEP Edite Estrela, also called for fathers to be given two weeks of fully paid paternity leave.
The report, which proved bitterly divisive, goes beyond the European Commission’s original proposal to extend minimum maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks throughout the EU’s 27 member states.
The vote in the plenary session of the European parliament has already been postponed once, after MEPs called for further examination of the potential impact of the legislation.
Business organisations have lobbied hard for MEPs to reject the 20-week plan, arguing that it would add a huge burden of cost to businesses already struggling due to the economic downturn if it became law.
During a parliament debate on Monday, the European Commission’s proposal to extend maternity leave to 18 weeks was broadly welcomed but the amendments seeking to extend it further prompted much disagreement.
EU commissioner Maros Sefcovic told MEPs the 18-week proposal was in line with recommendations from the International Labour Organisation.
He said further extensions were not feasible in the current financial climate.
Labour MEP Nessa Childers, who has written to other Irish MEPs urging them to support the 20-week proposal, said it would represent a “huge advance” on current maternity leave entitlements in Ireland.
She called on her fellow MEPs to “recognise the long-term benefits to our economy from a better work-life balance, and vote in favour of this legislation in the national interest”.
Opposing the proposed amendments, British Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne said they went “too far” and she argued that it was up to women themselves to decide when and how much maternity leave they should take rather than be “dictated to”.
Dutch Green MEP Marije Cornelissen accused opponents of the amendments of “selling their soul to short-sighted corporate interests”.
Supporters of the 20-week proposal have cited World Health Organisation recommendations that say more time at home is beneficial for both mother and child.
An impact assessment of the proposed legislation, conducted at the request of the European parliament’s gender equality, employment and social affairs policy units, found that children whose mothers returned to work within three months of giving birth were less likely to be breastfed, less likely to have up-to-date immunisations and more likely to experience behavioural problems later in childhood.