Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-25-Speech-2-629-000"
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"en.20111025.31.2-629-000"2
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"Mr President, first of all, I would like to thank Mr Mleczko for his very clear description of the current situation. We have constantly heard in this debate that it is all about improving the position of working women who decide to have a child. In my opinion, the directive is focusing too closely on increasing maternity leave to 20 weeks. Do we really believe that the decision to have a child can be reduced to an issue such as 20 weeks’ maternity leave? As the mother of three children, I am very well aware that it is important to have overall packages and good provisions in place for families, in order to have a positive influence on the decision to have a child and to create equal opportunities for women.
The current draft directive does not even come close to doing justice to the different provisions and overall packages in some Member States, some of which are very good. We need flexible solutions which take into consideration the situation in the Member States and in society and the resulting needs of women. Maximum requirements and wish lists will not resolve the problem in this case. Therefore, we in Parliament firstly need to establish a sound, realistic basis for negotiations. Comprehensive maternity benefits and the welfare of children must be given the highest priority. We can ensure that this is the case using different methods and models. People who are intent on getting their own way regardless will not necessarily achieve their objectives more quickly. A lack of willingness to compromise does not open doors or build bridges. A moderate proposal would be a better solution to providing improved maternity benefits and making progress in this area.
I believe that we must start looking for another approach on the basis of the Commission’s draft directive which offers more flexibility for different concepts in individual Member States in order to significantly improve maternity benefits and protection for children in the first few months of life. This will not be possible with the current draft which has not had broad support, as some Members have made clear today. I would like to see a little more flexibility, more realism and a greater focus on what the Member States have already achieved, without calling our basic requirement into question."@en1
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