Paid maternity leave rules face the axe as EC lays out five-year agenda

Paid maternity leave, air quality and waste recycling rules will be scrapped by the European Commission, while a new fruit and veg scheme for schools and organic product rules have been put on a watch list.

New company tax rules are also in their sights as the Lux/leaks controversy forces commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to show he can be tough on tax evasion.

The list of 80 bills to be withdrawn caused uproar in the European Parliament as MEPs accused the commission of producing an “order book for big business” in their work programme for the coming five years.

The environmental and maternity bills were on a hit-list sent to the commission by Business Europe, of which Ibec is a member, and which welcomed the “political courage” of Mr Juncker, saying it would ultimately pay off with growth and jobs.

Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans said they were with-drawing 80 of 400 bills. The fruit, vegetables and milk scheme for schools, together with labelling for organic product, were slated to be scrapped but Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan got a stay of execution for six months to work out an alternative.

However, he did say they would give member states — who have blocked paid maternity leave of 20 weeks becoming part of EU legislation for the past five years — six months to agree before it would be withdrawn.

He also said they intended to replace some of the environmental and waste proposals with a better draft. The plans had been touted to create two million jobs and save €600bn when launched.

A furious Bernadette Ségol of the European Trade Union Confederation said: “There is not a single proposal to improve worker, consumer or environmental protection.”

The wording of an action plan to combat tax evasion and fraud was beefed up in recent days after more leaks about how Luxembourg, under its then prime minister Mr Juncker, facilitated companies.

It promises to move to a system where tax is paid to the country where goods and services are bought, rather than manufactured or where the head office is located — something Ireland will be watching closely.