The European social partners on childcare have written a joint letter to the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities voicing their concerns.
UK organisations signed up include the TUC as part of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Confederation of British Industry as part of BusinessEurope.
Targets on childcare provision for 33 per cent of under-threes and 90 per cent of three- to six-year-olds by 2010 were set at a European Council meeting in Barcelona in 2002.
The partners are made up of the ETUC, BusinessEurope, the Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and Enterprises of General Economic Interest, and UEAPME, representatives of small and medium enterprises in Europe.
They agreed that affordable, accessible childcare was crucial in promoting women's participation in the labour market and in narrowing the pay gap between women and men.
