Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2007:170
Date: 2007-03-15
Language of the case: Finnish
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Social Policy
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Finland

Summary of the Judgment Social policy – Male and female workers – Access to employment and working conditions – Equal treatment – Directive 76/207 – Protection of the safety and health of workers – Workers who are pregnant, have just given birth, or are breastfeeding – Directive 92/85 (Council Directives 76/207, Art. 2, and 92/85, Arts 8 and 11) Article 2 of Directive 76/207 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions, as amended by Directive 2002/73, which prohibits all direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of sex as regards working conditions, and Articles 8 and 11 of Directive 92/85 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding, concerning maternity leave, preclude national provisions governing child-care leave which, in so far as they fail to take into account changes affecting the worker concerned as a result of pregnancy during the period of at least 14 weeks preceding and after childbirth, do not allow the person concerned to obtain at her request an alteration of the period of her child-care leave at the time when she claims her rights to maternity leave and thus deprive her of the rights attaching to that maternity leave. (see para. 58, operative part)