EU row over 20-week maternity pay

The move was condemned as a massive extra burden on British business if it became law – and a 2 billion-a-year extra headache for the Treasury. The vote in the European Parliament's Women's Rights Committee yesterday exceeded the European Commission's controversial proposal for 18 weeks' maternity leave on full pay.

Current UK rules give pregnant women a full year off, with just six weeks paid at 90 per cent of the mother's average pay, followed by 33 weeks on Statutory Maternity Pay of 123 a week – 55 per cent higher than sick pay. The rest is unpaid. Under existing EU rules agreed in 1992, minimum maternity leave is set at 14 weeks, with pay for the duration to be no lower than sickness pay in the member state concerned.

The British Chambers of Commerce said the vote must be overturned either by the full European Parliament or by EU government ministers.

MEPs have voted to restore a European ban on the sale of unusually shaped fruit and veg.

The much-condemned ban was lifted by the European Commission last July, ending food waste by cutting red tape surrounding the shape and uniformity of fresh produce. The move also cut retail prices by as much as 40 per cent.

But Spanish MEPs tabled a plan to bring the ban back, and yesterday they won the support of a majority on the European Parliament's agriculture committee. The issue now goes to the full parliament for a vote, although it is unlikely to be approved.