Madam President, Commissioner, I would like to start by thanking the rapporteur for her thorough, responsible and unreserved report. This is an extremely sensitive issue which is closely related to other matters which are regularly referred to such as the ageing population, the demographic trend, the low birth rate, the right to health, the right to work, the right to motherhood and the social value of motherhood. This matter cannot be viewed as affecting women alone: they must be protected and supported by society. The 1992 directive, whose implementation in the Member States we are assessing today, is intended precisely to introduce minimum measures to encourage the improvement of the health and safety of pregnant women and women who have recently given birth and are breastfeeding. The Commission's evaluation report shows that the directive has proved its utility in that it has been of some benefit in a number of Member States in certain areas of the issue, such as leave on grounds of health and safety, etc. However, apart from these points, which are of a general nature, we share the rapporteur's criticism of the Commission's report. This report was overdue and limited almost exclusively to dealing with legal and technical transposition. There is a lack of concrete statistics and data on vital aspects of the directive, such as the monitoring of workplace risk assessment for pregnant workers and the frequency of work-related accidents and illnesses, and satisfactory information is not provided on the coordination of legislative adaptation of specialist inspection, penalties or scientific research for the detection, prevention, elimination and recuperation of professional hazards relating to pregnancy. We feel that there has been a lack of serious monitoring on the part of the Commission. There has been a lack of coordination between the health and safety directorate and the equal opportunities unit, and the ambiguity of the directive itself in this area has become apparent. The delay in the production of an evaluation report – and I would remind you that, precisely because of the low minimum standards set, Italy was only persuaded to approve the directive on the condition that its implementation would be monitored very soon afterwards – should have led the Commission to put forward a proposal to revise the directive, particularly in relation to certain aspects referred to by the rapporteur: the length of maternity leave, the increase in the duration of maternity leave where risks are involved, a more precise definition of the concept of an adequate allowance, the prohibition of dismissal of women during pregnancy or maternity leave with effective penalties, the prohibition of any form of discrimination with regard to women's careers or the improvement of working conditions, the implementation of all the measures necessary to safeguard the health and safety of woman and unborn child, without prejudice to the woman's right to work or her career and encouraging breastfeeding through diverse measures. In addition to taking all the necessary compatibilities into consideration, when they revise the directive, the Commission and the Member States should be motivated by the principle of non-discrimination and the recognition of motherhood and fatherhood as fundamental rights which are essential for a balanced society.

Political group: PSE