European law

Council Directive (EC) 92/85 (on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding) should be interpreted as meaning that member states were not required to provide maternity leave pursuant to Art 8 of that directive to a female worker who as a commissioning mother had had a baby through a surrogacy arrangement, even in circumstances where she might breastfeed the baby following the birth or where she did breastfeed the baby. 

Article 14 of Directive 2006/54 (on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation), read in conjunction with Art 2(1)(a) and (b) and (2)(c) of that directive, should be interpreted as meaning that an employer’s refusal to provide maternity leave to a commissioning mother who had had a baby through a surrogacy arrangement did not constitute discrimination on grounds of sex.