WUNRN
European Women’s Lobby – EWL
http://womenlobby.org/news/ewl-news/article/civil-society-view-regarding
Europe Civil Society View on Pending EU Legislation – Response to
BusinessEurope
Examples: Women on EU Boards & Maternity Leave
[Brussels, 5 December 2014] The European Women’s Lobby and 19 other gender
equality and environmental organisations, including trade unions and consumer
groups, call on the European Commission to ignore a hit list of proposals that
business lobbyists want ditched by the new executive.
The undersigned organisations, representing diverse public interests,
strongly oppose the worrying deregulatory tendency under the headline of
‘cutting red tape’. The open letter is a response to the statement issued by
BusinessEurope on 25th November under the heading ‘Business input to the screening exercise by
vice-president Timmermans’.
Find the Open Letter to First Vice-President of the European
Comission Frans Timmermans here.
The European Women’s Lobby specifically reacted to claims made by Business
Europe on the Women on Boards and Maternity Leave legislation. Read here EWL’s
clarifications.
Gender balance in boards The proposal should
not be withdrawn but speeded up. Not only is parity in decision-making right
because it is essential that the opinions, needs and wishes of women and men in
their diversity are taken into account, but a huge range of studies have shown
that gender balance in the boardroom has proven to be competitively and
financially better for the company.
BusinessEurope opposes EU action to increase the proportion of women on
non-executive boards in large listed companies. It claims that the proposed
legislation and quotas ‘’disregard the highly diverse conditions in different
sectors/companies and do not take into account the way corporate boards
function and are renewed”. However, these are precisely the key reasons why the
legislation is necessary in the first place.
Pregnant workers The proposal should
not be withdrawn but speeded up. The inadequate rights and low level of pay
enjoyed by women during maternity leave currently represent a large driving
factor of the gender pay gap (EU average is 16%), the gender pension gap (EU
average is 40%), and low female participation in the labour market (EU average
is 62%). Women in the European Union demand and deserve full pay throughout
their leave (which should be at least 18 weeks) and without work-related
conditionality.
Abandoning the Maternity Leave Directive will have serious negative
consequences for pregnant workers across the European Union with direct impact
on women’s contribution to the economy and on the future labour force.
Gender Equality & Environment Laws on
Business Lobby Hit List
11/28/2014 - EU legislation to ensure gender equality on
company boards, to extend maternity leave, and to reduce air pollution and
landfill should be killed off, a leading business lobby organisation has told
the European Commission.
A BusinessEurope communication to Commission First
Vice-President Frans Timmermans - seen by EurActiv and made available by Businesseurope after the
publication of this article - contains a hit list of five
pending bills, including the EU’s Circular Economy package, that it wants
ditched by the executive.
>> Download a copy of the
BusinessEurope statement here.
The proposals are “damaging to the competitiveness of
European companies”, and “should be withdrawn”, the paper, which is not public
and dated 20 November, said. Trade unions and environmental campaigners have
strongly criticised BusinessEurope’s recommendations.
Timmermans has a mandate from new Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker to cut red tape and deliver “better regulation”.
He is currently analysing about 130 pieces of pending legislation left over
from the Barroso Commission to decide if any should be dropped.
The targeted proposals are;
·
Gender balance on boards;
·
Revisions to the Safety
and Health of Pregnant Workers Directive;
·
The reduction of national
emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants;
·
The Circular Economy package of
six legislative proposals;
·
The Financial Transaction Tax.
The paper also calls for nine other proposals to be
“substantially improved”, including rules on mining in war-torn regions, and
the EU Emissions Trading System, the cornerstone of the EU’s drive to reduce
greenhouse gases.
BusinessEurope told EurActiv on 25 November, "We
and our members support President Juncker and his first Vice-President in
screening 130 pending legislative proposals in order to identify which
proposals should be pursued and which should be withdrawn. This is in line
with the EU’s drive to comply with the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality" (see positions for more).
Gender Balance
In 2012, the European Commission set a 40% target for the
number of women in non-executive board member positions in publicly listed
companies, excluding small and medium sized enterprises.
85% of non-executive board members and 91.1% of executive
board members are men, the Commission said. There was a glass ceiling that
barred female talent form top positions in Europe’s biggest companies, it
added.
The bill is being discussed by the Council of Ministers,
after getting strong backing from the European Parliament. In October, the
Swedish government said it was considering imposing the quota at national
level.
Bernadette Ségol, general secretary of the European Trade
Union Confederation (ETUC) said, “It is outrageous that BusinessEurope says
requiring companies to have more women on their boards would damage
competitiveness. I think it would improve competitiveness. I feel insulted and
I think many other women will be too. They should publicly withdraw that claim
right now.”
BusinessEurope said that full harmonisation of quotas
would not take into account the different conditions in different sectors.
Instead of a fully harmonised quota system, the Commission should make a
recommendation and leave it to member states to decide how best to promote
better gender balance.
“We therefore believe it would be better to withdraw this
particular proposal,” it said.
Pregnant workers
In 2008, the Commission proposed revisions to an existing
directive which would increase maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks. The
European Parliament called for an extension of fully paid maternity leave
to 20 weeks, which the Council of Ministers did not accept. It has been blocked
since 2009.
The Commission signalled in a 2015 draft work programme
that it is willing to support efforts to unblock the Safety and Health of
Pregnant Workers’ Directive.
The BusinessEurope paper said, “Pregnant workers are already
adequately protected […] given the economic situation, it is not reasonable to
come up at European level with rules which would significantly increase
costs for companies and public finances.”
ETUC’s Ségol responded, “To add injury to insult they also
demand the withdrawal of a proposal to increase maternity leave. The
ETUC strongly supports an increase in paid maternity leave which would
help millions of women with a job and a young baby. I know how tough that
can be.”
Circular Economy
BusinessEurope is pushing for the EU’s July 2014 Circular
Economy package of waste targets to be withdrawn and re-tabled “as an economic
piece of legislation rather than from a purely environmental perspective”.
It should also take into account “issues of wider economic
interest”, such as manufacturing, raw materials, security of supply and
research and innovation, according to the document.
A 30% resource efficiency target, “should not be proposed
or considered” as part of the package, it said. BusinessEurope has opposed
targets in other environmental legislation.
The Circular Economy package is aimed to increase
recycling levels and tighten rules on incineration and landfill. It consists of
six bills on waste, packaging, landfill, end of life vehicles, batteries and accumulators,
and waste electronic equipment.
The Commission has said that the package will create €600
billion net savings, two million jobs and deliver 1% GDP growth.
Jeremy Wates, the European Environmental Bureau’s (EEB)
secretary-general, said: “BusinessEurope represents yesterday’s polluting
businesses. They are pushing an outdated agenda which fails to recognise that
the long-term health of the economy requires strong environmental policies.”
Air pollution
The 2013 proposal for the reduction of national emissions
of certain atmospheric pollutants revises targets set in 1999, toughening then
and increasing its scope to cover some new pollutants.
It fixes emissions ceilings at national level, for
nitrogen dioxide for example, obliging member states to hit air
quality targets. Supporters say it is the only way to reduce cross-border
pollution in the EU.
Sectors such as vehicle and fuel legislation, shipping
regulations and UN agreements are covered by the draft law.
“As experience in the past has shown already, the risk is
high that the industrial sectors will be held accountable if non-industrial
sectors (eg agriculture) do not deliver their share," BusinessEurope
said.
The EEB’s Wates said, “It is now clear where the
pressure on the Commission to withdraw key legislative proposals on air and
waste has been coming from. The real scandal however would be if President
Juncker were to buy into BusinessEurope’s regressive agenda under the veil of
‘better regulation’.”
FTT
The list demands that proposals for a Financial
Transaction Tax (FTT) be dropped. The levy failed to get the unanimous support
EU tax law needs to pass in the Council of Ministers.
A smaller bloc of member states is pushing ahead with a
version of the tax under the enhanced co-operation procedure, a mechanism
allowing them to agree their own FTT without unanimity. As this involves a new
proposal, it is unlikely to be affected.
But a Commission decision to drop a once-cherished
initiative could send a political signal to the bloc, which needs the executive
to draw up the enhanced cooperation bill.
“The introduction of an FTT will undermine the overall
aim of financial stability and damp (even more) investment and confidence,” the
document said.
ETUC’s Ségol disagreed. “There are 25 million
unemployed because of a crisis caused by out of control financial
markets. BusinessEurope cannot be serious claiming that a FTT would
undermine financial stability. Instead, an FTT would curb excessive and
dangerous speculative trading,” she said.
Proposals to be ‘improved’
Rules on mining in war-torn regions put too much
responsibility on companies, should not be made binding, or extended to cover
more minerals, the paper said.
The list calls for a full reform of the EU Emissions
Trading System, the cornerstone of the EU’s drive to reduce greenhouse gases.
ETS “should become the only EU instrument for delivering
on emissions reduction, renewables growth and energy efficiency from industry”.
The call is consistent with BusinessEurope’s demands that
targets for renewables and efficiency in the EU’s 2030 climate package be
replaced with a single overarching goal for greenhouse gas emissions.
EU leaders committed by 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by at least 40%, and increase energy efficiency and renewables
by at least 27%. While the gas emissions are legally binding at the national
level, the other two are not.
The Commission should, within six months, deliver a
new “carbon leakage” proposal to protect businesses from competition from
industries in other countries that are not bound by the EU’s emission
restrictions, the document said.
Laws for product safety, data protection,
shareholders’ rights, measures to bolster the resilience of EU credit
institutions, trade defence instrument modernisation, and workplace pensions
are also mentioned.
The document also calls for four proposals to be adopted
quickly by the new Commission. The 4th railway package, Single European
Sky, a proposal to protect trade secrets and the modernisation of the EU’s
trademark package should all be fast-tracked, it said.
The European Commission told EurActiv that there was no
decision on withdrawals or reviews at this stage (see positions).
Positions:
BusinessEurope responded on 25 November, "We and our members support President
Juncker and his first vice-president in screening 130 pending legislative
proposals in order to identify which proposals should be pursued and which
should be withdrawn. This is in line with the EU’s drive to comply with
the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
"Therefore BUSINESSEUROPE supports the swift
adoption of a number of draft legislations but is critical of a few
others. For example the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)
would undermine the overall aim of financial stability and dampen (even more)
investment and confidence.
"Air quality policy in Europe consists of a number
of different legal and regulatory measures. As experience in the past has shown
already, the risk is high that the industrial sectors will be held accountable
if non-industrial sectors (eg agriculture) do not deliver their share.
"On draft legislation on emissions of certain
pollutants we are in favour of further improvement of air quality in Europe.
Our members do commit to these efforts. However we still see unaddressed
concerns, especially because of the lack of proportionality between costs and
benefits and proper evaluation of the impact of concrete emission limit values.
"We are in favour of promoting the objective of
better gender balance in boards. However, we do not support a one-size-fits-all
EU approach that does not take into account the subsidiarity principle and
disregards the diverse national approaches to this topic, as well as sector
specific problems.
"The pregnant workers directive adopted in 1992
provides adequate protection. Therefore, like the EU Council, we are concerned
about the potential impact of the proposed revision. Given the economic
situation, an extension of maternity leave would significantly increase costs
for companies and public finances.“
"We remind readers that all examples are based on
existing positions of BUSINESSEUROPE and its 39 member federations. All
positions are public and can be found on our website.”
The European Commission said, "The Commission will prepare a Work Programme for 2015 in order
to deliver on the priorities set out by President Juncker in the
Political Guidelines and Mission Letters.
"The Commission Work Programme will translate the
ten points of the Political Guidelines, the Juncker Commission's
political contract with the European Parliament, and the European
Council's Strategic Agenda for the Union in Times of Change, into concrete
deliverables.The focus will be firmly on those things where EU action can
really make a difference in the interest of citizens and businesses to face the
challenges our economies and societies are confronted with today.
"First
Vice-President Timmermans is the lead on this and will
discuss it with the European Parliament and the General Affairs
Council. The 2015 Work Programme will also be the opportunity to determine
whether to pursue the list of pending legislative proposals or not, in
accordance with the principle of political discontinuity, and notably as set
out by President Juncker in his Mission Letter to First
Vice-President Timmermans.
"There is no decision on any withdrawals or reviews
at this stage. Decisions will only be taken at the end of the process by the
whole Commission."