This will remain one of the more memorable weeks of my European Parliamentary career. Following many months of gruelling negotiations with the Council of Ministers we reached a provisional agreement on the Work-Life Balance Directive for parents and carers.

Technology and changing working patterns have given us a different outlook on work and our personal life. One of the main challenges in today’s society is achieving an equilibrium in our daily lives between   work commitments and family obligations.

It’s quite safe to say that this issue is widespread across all families and it brings undue strain on our personal lives.   This is a concern which many highlight during my various discussions, visits and other events related to my work.

I firmly believe that this is a matter that needs to be addressed in order to give parents and carers the possibility of finding a proper balance between work commitments and family life both in the upbringing of children and caring for relatives in need.

As the European Parliament’s lead negotiator on the new proposed Work-Life Balance Directive for parents and carers I have been in the last weeks and months negotiating the text of this Directive, with the aim of finding common ground with the European Council which is made up of representatives of European member states’ governments, and finally agree on a  law which sets out minimum standards for all EU Member States  on parental, paternity and carers’ leave, as well as establishing a right to request flexible work arrangements.

In today’s society, parents need to be given the opportunity to spend more time with their children, juggling their family duties as well as their jobs.

The Work-Life Balance directive will introduce 10 days of paid leave for fathers available upon the birth of a child. The European Parliament worked fiercely to safeguard the rights of the same-sex couples in this directive and ensured that this leave would also be able to be used by the equivalent second parent. The directive also plans to provide 2 months of paid leave for each parent in order for parents to spend more quality time with their children at a young age, 5 days of annual carer’s leave for people who need to tend to sick or unwell relatives, and the right for parents to request  flexible working arrangements.

On this last point, the right is limited to the request. The employer has no obligation to accept such a request. This is a small step when compared to the other provisions of this directive, but is representative of the societal shift to greater flexibility, made possible also due to the advancement of technological developments. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to go even further. 

These laws would be ground-breaking for Malta as they give new rights to parents and carers. Over the past months I have met numerous employers’ and employees’ unions, large and small, and have tried as much as possible to take their concerns into consideration in the original drafting of the report and even more so in the negotiations with the Council.

The objective of this directive goes further than increasing parents’ rights. My intention throughout has also been to ensure that women representation in the work force is strengthened. I believe that having these laws in place would be of great benefit in this regard, as it would foster a better sharing of caring responsibilities between men and women. Traditionally it is women that take on a disproportionate share of caring responsibilities, and this has an impact on career advancement, pay and eventually pension rights.

At the same time, introducing measures which would make it easier for couples to share the care of their children and relatives is an added incentive, and would go a long way in ensuring that men are equally involved in the early years

I have intentionally worked this directive to promote and push forward a stronger gender equality principle, which would be advantageous to every individual in this equation.

This directive is therefore also promoting non-discrimination and pushes forward stronger gender equality.

Following the provisional agreement reached during the sixth round of negotiations with the Council, I intend to work to ensure that this agreement surpasses the final hurdles to become law and that they are effectively transposed into Maltese legislation so as to grant these new rights to Maltese and European families as soon as possible. Finding the right balance has been a challenge, but the rewards will be all-round and tangible in everyday lives of citizens. I believe that this is the way forward – let’s get the ball rolling.

MEP David Casa is the head of the National Party delegation to the European Parliament