The Europena Union (EU) is playing a major role in driving work-life balance policies, especially in relation to paternity leave. For instance, it has funded a number of projects which have evaluated the situation of work-life balance in Europe. A set of regulations have also been defined at the European level and all Member States have established standards in accordance with them. This international conference on Men and Work Life Balance was organised in Brussels in 2007 to learn from existing work in this area and to encourage further initiatives. One of the challenges discussed at the conference was the gap between legislation and practice. In Spain, for example, the government passed a law ensuring that every citizen has the right to receive care; in practice, however, it is unlikely that more than a third of 'dependents' will receive this care because not enough budget has been allocated towards it. The law also fails to address the reluctance of many men to use public services. As a result, responsibility for providing care is likely to remain at the household level. A key recommendation emerging from the conference was for businesses to allow more flexible working hours. Suggested measures included flexible arrival and departure times, arranging meetings only within core working hours (i.e. not at the beginning or end of the day), and introducing mandatory and non-transferable paternity leave.