The legislative instrument that we are considering today in the evaluation report referred to us by the Commission has run its course as far as contractual rights and social security systems are concerned. Thousands of female workers in various countries in the Union have benefited from it, but it is now out of date. It is out of date because the 1952 ILO convention has just been revised and there is an expectation that most countries in the world will substantially improve their maternity protection. It was and still is, of course, hoped that the Union will continue to be in the vanguard in social terms, in this area as in others. But not everything is out of date, because in terms of organisation of work, there have been shortcomings in transposing the directive and even greater shortcomings in implementing it. In most countries, the three stages of job organisation are not being respected. These stages are: the employer should adjust the working conditions and/or hours of the worker to avoid exposure to risk; if that fails, the worker should be moved to another job; only if neither option is possible should the worker be granted leave, as this reduces the worker’s income and also her career opportunities. By way of example, I must tell you that in some countries, not even a minimum period of recuperation is allowed for the mother, which the experts say should be around 45 days for a normal birth for a woman working in a normal job. Nevertheless, there are countries that are not complying with these rules at all, on the pretext that they are guaranteeing women a choice. We think that women must be guaranteed the option of enjoying an appropriate period of maternity leave, which they can share with the father, but that the leave should be assessed and guaranteed according to the risk to her own health. Furthermore, this directive does not provide for a link between its own risk assessment provisions and other directives, particularly the framework directive on risk assessment and information for workers. Since there is no such link, employment of women is subject to unfair criticism because the costs of maternity-related risks apply exclusively to young women of childbearing age. These risks are being underestimated and should not be a matter for the employer or constitute an obligation on the employer only when the woman’s doctor informs the employer of her condition. Firstly, because this is too late: risks from radiation, chemically-charged atmospheres and poor working posture are well known now and all have harmful consequences for the health of the woman and her baby, particularly in the first few weeks. Secondly, these measures do nothing to protect the reproductive health of men and women. There is a considerable degree of infertility in the Union today: over 11% of European couples suffer from such problems, which result from lifestyles shaped by the economic structures within which we live, and also by the fact that measures are not in place to provide protection against these dangers. An example of this is the extreme temperatures that cause infertility in women and men. The Union, which is today in a position to do so, should draw up and implement legislation to this end. With regard to maternity leave, we are aware of the costs to economic activity of proposals to extend this leave. We also know that these costs are much higher when employing women, but health specialists recommend that a baby should remain at home for at least five months, protected from the outside world and, above all, growing up in a suitable psychological and emotional environment, which will provide it with the necessary balance for growing up with a sense of security, because it needs its parents. Parental leave should therefore be extended, and, if healthily divided between the parents, will benefit them both. The directive should also take the informal economy and atypical employment contracts into consideration. Finally, I hope that the Commission will tell us what it is intending to do in this area, now that it has an extended legal basis, which includes Article 13 and ex Article 118. This means that it can certainly cover other aspects mentioned in the report.

Political group: PSE