Eugenia Caracciolo di Torella

Reconciling work and family life in EU law and policy

Introduction: Reconciling Work and Family Life: Old Problems and New Challenges The Development of the Reconciliation Principle in EU Discourse The Leave Provisions The Time Provisions The Care Strategy Conclusions

Brave New Fathers for a Brave New World? Fathers as Caregivers in an Evolving European Union

This article focuses on the role that fathers play when it comes to family responsibility, in particular the care of young children, and how EU policy and legislation have contributed to it. This is important for several reasons. From a theoretical perspective, access to care for fathers represents the other side of the access to paid employment for mothers debate, and completes the deconstruction of the two�?sphere structure. From a more practical point of view, including fathers in the work/family life reconciliation debate is essential for the achievement of important EU policies, such as employment and gender equality. Although society is ready for a change, the legislator has been slow to address it, thus fathers are still missing from the EUs reconciliation policy and legislation. Against this background, the decision of the Court of Justice in Roca �?lvarez has, potentially, laid down the basis for a new model of fatherhood.

Conclusions: The Way Forward

There are two kinds of moral laws, two kinds of conscience, one for men and one, quite different for women. They don’t understand each other; but in practical life woman is judged by masculine law, as though she weren’t a woman but a man.680

An emerging right to care in the EU: a “New Start to Support Work-Life Balance for Parents and Carers”

Reconciliation between work and family life has been a prominent feature of EU discourse, policy and legislation for some time now. Accordingly, an increasingly sophisticated array of measures has been implemented. This article focuses on the most recent EU initiative, namely the New Start to Support Work-Life Balance for Parents and Carers, which was announced on 26 April 2017. It entails a mixture of legislative and non-legislative measures aimed at modernising the regulation of this area. This article maintains that the New Start Initiative, although not flawless, is ground-breaking. In this proposal, the Commission is embracing a substantive and transformative approach to equality. The New Start Initiative has the potential to reconceptualise this area and to move from care as a mother-child issue to a wider one that sees care as an integral part of society.

Men in the work/family reconciliation discourse: the swallows that did not make a summer?

This article focuses on one aspect of reconciliation policy and legislation that has often been overlooked, namely the role that men and, in particular, fathers play when it comes to family responsibilities and how EU policy and legislation have contributed to shaping it. It argues that men are an essential element of the work life balance debate that is crucial for the achievement of important EU policies, such as employment and gender equality. Meanwhile, fathers are increasingly willing to take an active part in their children’s upbringing. Despite a compelling argument and a fast-growing policy and academic debate, the legislator, both at domestic and EU level, appears to remain reluctant to address the role of fathers; as a result, fathers remain largely missing from the EU’s reconciliation policy and legislation. The few positive initiatives in this area remain the swallows that have not (yet) made a summer.This article focuses on one aspect of reconciliation policy and legislation that has often been overlooked, namely the role that men and, in particular, fathers play when it comes to family responsibilities and how EU policy and legislation have contributed to shaping it. It argues that men are an essential element of the work life balance debate that is crucial for the achievement of important EU policies, such as employment and gender equality. Meanwhile, fathers are increasingly willing to take an active part in their children’s upbringing. Despite a compelling argument and a fast-growing policy and academic debate, the legislator, both at domestic and EU level, appears to remain reluctant to address the role of fathers; as a result, fathers remain largely missing from the EU’s reconciliation policy and legislation. The few positive initiatives in this area remain the swallows that have not (yet) made a summer.

On lies and statistics: the relationship between gender equality and insurance

The relationship between the principle of gender equality and insurance has always been a difficult one. On the one hand, gender equality is a fundamental principle of European Union law; on the other hand, it is common practice among insurance companies to divide men and women into different pools in order to determine insurance risks. At the moment, the solution lies in the unsatisfactory compromise encapsulated in Article 5 of the Goods and Services Directive. This note aims at exploring this compromise in the light of, inter alia, the recent opinion of the Advocate General in the Test Achat case. In the light of the difficulties surrounding this area, it argues that a more effective way to address this area might be to draft a more stringent opt-out clause, rather than a complete ban on it.

The Leave Provisions

This chapter explores the leave provisions, namely continuous periods of leave — weeks or even months — granted to working parents and, more generally, to workers with caring responsibilities. Leave provisions represent the traditional cornerstone of reconciliation policies, especially when young children are involved. Indeed, as they are currently structured, these provisions are geared towards, and are mostly used by, parents of very young children. However, the various national employment law systems provide further examples of leave for other reasons such as compassionate leave or career breaks which can be used by employees with more general family responsibilities. At the time of writing, the EU has a well-developed system of leave available to (mainly biological) working parents, but very scarce provisions to cater for the needs of employees with wider family responsibilities.219 Indeed, as this book goes to press, the only binding provision which goes somewhat beyond addressing the need to care for young children is the form of emergency leave for ‘force majeure’ provided by the parental leave.220 Thus employees with wider family needs might find it more useful to rely on the time provisions.221

The Development of the Reconciliation Principle in EU Discourse

Neither the concept of reconciliation of work and family life nor family policies102 were contemplated by the original Treaty of the European Community. This is unsurprising in an economically oriented Treaty, the primary aim of which was to create a single market. The Treaty of Rome was market-making rather than market-correcting and it aimed to create an integrated labour market that functioned efficiently, rather than to correct its outcomes in line with political standards of social justice.103 Such an approach was reinforced by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which was initially reluctant to deal with questions concerning the family, its organisation and the division of responsibility between parents.104 Accordingly, in this context, social goals were seen as merely side issues to achieving greater economic integration.105 Over the last two decades, however, the political and legal context has changed dramatically and in recent years there has been a substantive shift towards more social-based legislation. In particular, the Treaty of Amsterdam made it clear that equality is to be viewed as a proactive obligation within the EU.106 As a result of this process, reconciliation has gradually been included in the agenda. Its development, at least at an early stage, has been ancillary to the development of other issues rather than as a stand-alone concept.

Introduction: Old Problems and New Challenges

I am not a member of the Women’s Rights League. Whatever I have written has been without any conscious thought of making propaganda. (…) I (…) must disclaim the honour of having consciously worked for the women’s rights movement. I am not even quite clear as to just what the women’s right movement really is. To me it has seemed a problem of humanity in general.1

The Time Provisions

Having explored the role of the leave provisions in the previous chapter, this chapter focuses on flexibility and its implications for the reconciliation discourse. The term ‘flexibility’ was initially employed to describe working hours over and above normal ones.383 Today the term has a more general connotation and indicates any job which does not conform to the standard 9-to-5 full-time work pattern and includes, for example, part-time work and fixed-term contracts.384 Employees who are not performing open-ended and/or full-time contracts are often referred to as ‘atypical workers’. Thus, for the purposes of this chapter, ‘flexibility’, ‘flexible’ and ‘atypical working arrangements’ are used interchangeably.