The European Commission has asked eleven countries, including Spain, to fully transpose the European standards on the reconciliation of family and professional life for parents and caregivers. Brussels has sent this Wednesday a reasoned opinion to these eleven Member States “for not notifying national measures” to include European regulations on this matter in their legislation. Spain will now have two months to resolve the complaints of the European Executive; in case of not doing so, the latter may take the country before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Brussels highlights in its statement that the conciliation directive aims to “promote the equal participation of men and women in the labor market, promoting the equitable distribution of family responsibilities between parents.” European regulations “guarantee” that fathers have the right to enjoy at least ten working days of paternity leave and establishes a minimum of four months of parental leave, with at least two of them paid and non-transferable from one parent to another.
In Spain, parents are entitled to this four-month permit, two of which are paid and non-transferable. European regulations also establish that fathers and mothers can use this leave flexibly (with part-time or segment shifts). In the same way, according to the directive, workers who provide care to a relative or people who live in the same household are entitled to five days of leave a year. Under this rule, parents with children up to eight years of age can request reduced and flexible hours.
The deadline for the transposition of the directive was August 2, 2022 and, already in September, the European Commission sent letters of formal notice to nineteen European countries for not having communicated the transposition measures of said Directive. After analyzing their responses, Brussels found that the regulations have not been fully transposed in eleven Member States, so it has decided to take another step in the infringement proceedings by sending a reasoned opinion to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Austria and Slovenia.
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