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Caracciolo di Torella, Eugenia --- "Is There a Fundamental Right to Reconcile Work and Family Life in the EU?" [2011] ELECD 864; in Busby, Nicole; James, Grace (eds), "Families, Care-giving and Paid Work" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Families, Care-giving and Paid Work

Editor(s): Busby, Nicole; James, Grace

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849802628

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: Is There a Fundamental Right to Reconcile Work and Family Life in the EU?

Author(s): Caracciolo di Torella, Eugenia

Number of pages: 15

Extract:

3. Is there a fundamental right to
reconcile work and family life in
the EU?
Eugenia Caracciolo di Torella

INTRODUCTION
With considerable oversimplification, across Europe the last two decades
have been characterized by profound changes in the organization and
structure of society. In particular, the decline of the traditional form of
family (Hantrais 2004), the increasing ageing population (inter alia, EU
Commission 2005 and EU Parliament 2010) and the growing participation
of women in the labour market (Scott et al. 2008) have meant that `the
requirements for care can no longer be resolved via the domestication of
women', and that `societies will have to seek new solutions' (Crompton
2006: 60­61). As a response, measures aiming at reconciling work and
family life (reconciliation measures) have gradually been introduced. At
EU level this was already acknowledged in the 1974 Social Action Pro-
gramme which aimed `to ensure that the family responsibilities of all
concerned may be reconciled with their job aspirations [emphasis added]'.
Since this first timid step to place the issue on the agenda, these measures
have developed into a sophisticated web of both binding and soft law
measures, which culminated in Article 33 of the EU Charter of Fundamen-
tal Rights ([2000] OJ C 364/1), now incorporated into the Treaty of Lisbon,
that establishes an explicit right to reconcile work and family life. The
contribution of the social partners1 as well as the ongoing dialogue between
the Court of Justice (CoJ) and the national courts, has proven invaluable
...