ABSTRACT
On 14 December 1995, a framework agreement on parental leave was signed in Brussels by representatives of European-level unions and employers’ organisations. The significance of this event lies not only in its substance-the setting out across Europe of minimum standards on parental leave-but also in its procedure. For the first time under the terms of the social protocol of the Treaty on European Union (the ‘Maastricht Treaty’), employers and unions had arrived voluntarily at an intersectoral agreement covering all member states, except the UK (under the ‘opt-out’ provisions of the social protocol). The Commission had first attempted to introduce a draft directive on parental leave in 1983, but little or no progress had been made since. The topic had proved too controversial, with the then Conservative government in the UK repeatedly stressing its opposition to the proposed legislation. However, once the Treaty on European Union had come into force in November 1993, a new procedure became possible.
