Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 92/85/EEC 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 - Hoofdinhoud

Council of the European Union Brussels, 1 April 2015 (OR. en)

7570/15

Interinstitutional File: 2008/0193 (COD) i

SOC 201 SAN 85 EGC 11 CODEC 426

NOTE

From: Presidency

To: Delegations

No. Cion doc.: 13983/08 SOC 575 SAN 217 CODEC 1285-COM(2008) 637 final i + COR 1 Subject: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council

amending Council Directive 92/85/EEC i 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

I. INTRODUCTION

Negotiations in the Council on the above proposal stalled following the adoption by the European Parliament of its Opinion in first reading in 2010, which the Council deemed to be

an unrealistic basis for further discussion. The latest Progress Report 1 was submitted to the

EPSCO Council in December 2011. An attempt to unblock the file in Coreper in May 2012 failed when the Committee decided against starting informal exploratory talks with the European Parliament.

1 17029/11 + COR 1.

II. STATE OF PLAY

Following the elections in May 2014, the European Parliament reconfirmed its Opinion in first reading. The Parliament also appointed Alessandra Moretti (IT, S&D) as the new Rapporteur for the proposal. During the autumn of 2014, the Presidency had informal contacts with the Rapporteur and once again explored the possibility of unblocking the file. In this context, it is also recalled that after the EPSCO Council on 16 October 2014, Ministers participated in a lunch debate entitled "Parental and Maternity Leave: A way to reconcile work, family and private life," to which the Rapporteur was also invited.

On 11 December 2014, the Presidency informed the EPSCO Council of the state of play, 2

noting that what was needed as a first step was "a definite sign of concrete flexibility from the EP side that would provide a feasible basis for negotiation between the co-legislators."

The European Parliament has subsequently once again nominated a new Rapporteur for the proposal (Maria Arena (BE, S&D)). The FEMM Committee placed the file on the agenda of its meeting on 26 February 2015 ("Exchange of views"), where Members representing various political groups called for the re-opening of discussions and spoke against the withdrawal of the proposal.

The S&D Group and the ALDE FEMM team have also issued papers sketching out common ideas for a compromise; it is understood that broader support for these documents is being sought within the European Parliament. The European Parliament's "Resolution on progress

on equality between women and men in the European Union in 2013," 3 adopted on 10 March

2015, also addresses the current deadlock and urges the Member States to resume negotiations

on the file.

2 15764/14.

3 P8_TA(2015)0050

On 6 March 2015, the Presidency participated in an informal meeting (at the technical level) with representatives of the European Parliament and the Commission to discuss the future of the file. A further meeting with the Rapporteur and the Chair of the FEMM Committee, initiated by Commissioner Jourová, took place in Strasbourg on 10 March 2015; the Presidency was represented by its inter-institutional unit.

The Chair of the FEMM Committee and the Rapporteur have, in recent weeks, signalled their desire to reach progress with a view to avoiding the withdrawal of the proposal by the Commission after six months. The Presidency has received two letters from the Chair of the

FEMM Committee to this effect. 4 In both letters, the Chair proposes "the establishment of a

Working Group, comprising representatives of the Trio Presidency, in close cooperation with the European Parliament, in order to channel" efforts to make progress on the file.

Within the context of the REFIT 5 exercise, in June 2014, the Commission identified the

proposal to revise the Maternity Leave Directive as a possible candidate for withdrawal. In its

Work Programme 6 for 2015, and in the Annex 7 thereto, the Commission declared its intention

to withdraw the proposal after six months under certain conditions. Clarifying the timeline and condition for such a step to delegations, the Commission representative explained that tangible progress unblocking the negotiations would be a sufficient reason for the Commission to evaluate the situation and not withdraw the proposal.

In the light of the proposal for withdrawals set out in the Commission's Work Programme, the

Presidency organised an informal COREPER I breakfast on 28 January 2015, where

delegations were informed on the Presidency’s intentions regarding several files, including

those that were subject to a six-month "ultimatum." The Presidency advocated a pragmatic

approach and conveyed to the delegations that given the situation in the Council there are no

further prospects to work on the Maternity Leave Directive and passed the message to the

Commission to proceed with the withdrawal of the proposal to pave the way for the new

initiative.

4 Letters dated 27 January and 26 February.

5 COM(2014) 368 final i, 18.6.2014.

6 COM(2014) 910 final i, 16.12..2014.

7 COM(2014) 910 final i, ANNEX 2, 16.12.2014.

III. DISCUSSION IN THE WORKING PARTY

On 18 March 2015, the Presidency informed the Working Party on Social Questions of the state of play and invited delegations: 1) to indicate whether they supported the European Parliament’s idea of establishing a parallel structure to informal trilogues in the form of a Working Group with the participation of the Trio Presidency and 2) to present their current positions on the file in the light of the ongoing developments in the European Parliament and the stance of the Commission.

At this meeting, it became clear that there was no general support for the establishment of a Working Group as suggested by the Chair of the FEMM Committee. Some delegations were still inclined to keep the door open for possible future informal negotiations with the European Parliament. However, a large number of delegations, including some that had previously supported the Directive, spoke in favour of a fresh start.

The Presidency concluded that it had no mandate for entering informal negotiations, although

informal contacts with the European Parliament could still take place. Thus on 24 March, the

Presidency met with representatives of the European Parliament and the Commission at the

technical level to explain the outcome of the discussion in the Working Party. 8

8 7468/15.

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