Existing EU legislation on maternity leave (Directive 92/85/EEC) provides for a minimum leave period of 14 weeks and for a minimum payment during this leave at the level of sick pay.

The main points of the new proposal are:

• an extension of the duration of maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks
• full pay during the 18 weeks, with a possibility for Member States to introduce a ceiling that must not be below sick pay
• the right for women coming back from maternity leave to ask for flexible work arrangements; the employer has no obligation to accept the request
• the proposal also increases the flexibility for women to decide when to take their maternity leave — before or after giving birth
• Already now, women cannot be dismissed during their maternity leave for reasons of pregnancy or maternity. Under the new directive and in line with the ECJ ruling in case C-460/06 (Paquay), even the preparation of dismissal during maternity leave for a dismissal after a woman's return is prohibited.

Another proposal on self-employed women will provide equivalent access to maternity leave as for other employees, but on a voluntary basis (replacing the existing Directive 86/613/EEC). At the same time, spouses and life partners (recognized as such in national law) who work on an informal basis in small family businesses such as a farm or a local doctor's practice (the proposal calls them 'assisting spouses') will have access, at their request, to social security coverage on at least an equal level of protection as formally self-employed workers.

The commission also issued a report on the provision of childcare in the European Union and the performance of each Member country with regard to the targets set by EU leaders in Barcelona in 2002.

This month the Commission launched negotiations on parental leave with a view to revising the existing EU legislation (Directive 96/34/EC), itself based on a framework agreement concluded by European employers' and trade unions' representatives. In the longer term, the commission would also like to improve other forms of family leave, such as paternity leave, adoption leave and filial leave (to care for dependent family members).