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Briefing item
Putting flesh on the principle of equal opportunities
Women's rights/Equal opportunities - 07-03-2007 - 18:50
At this Strasbourg session, the Women's Rights Committee will be asking the plenary to back its call for the European Commission to give stronger practical effect to its Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men (2006-2010). MEPs want the principle of equal pay for equal work to be properly applied, paternity leave encouraged, action taken against violence, better integration of immigrant women and promotion of respect for women's rights in the EU's external relations.
The policy of gender equality should be treated by the Commission as "as an indispensable requirement of respect for the rights of the human person", says the Women's Rights Committee in its own-initiative report drafted by Amalia Sartori (EPP-ED, IT), which was adopted near-unanimously with a few amendments.
Given that 2007 is European Year for Equality of Opportunities for All, MEPs are keen to place renewed emphasis on these issues. Yet they point out that the roadmap - presented in March 2006 - "does not contain a single new legislative proposal".
Equal pay for equal work
The Women's Rights Committee calls for national measures to help women enter the labour market "on a footing of equal dignity and equal pay for equal work" and for the implementation of "concrete strategies to reinforce female entrepreneurship". It also calls on the Commission to revise Council directive 75/117/EEC on the approximation of laws on the application of equal pay for men and women.
Elsewhere the committee's report calls on Member States to appoint "Ms Lisbons" to take charge of gender equality under the Lisbon strategy's employment and growth objectives.
Reconciling work and family life
The report says the Commission should speed up the introduction of policies designed to reconcile family and working life, for example those designed to:
- ensure that the cost of motherhood is borne by society as a whole;
- make care services and assistance more accessible and flexible;
- actively encourage fathers to make use of available flexible working time options and take on household chores and family work, for example by laying down an initial form of compulsory paternity leave.
Action against violence
MEPs urge the Commission to strengthen measures to protect women and children against all forms of violence, including slavery, crimes of honour, trafficking in human beings and polygamy. They want indicators to be devised on these forms of violence and they call on Member States to withdraw the licences of doctors who practice genital mutilation.
A key condition in external policy
"Respect for women's rights must be an essential condition for the EU's neighbourhood, foreign and development policies", says the committee. MEPs call for "greater EU engagement" in this area to boost principles such as gender equality, women's emancipation, prevention of violence against women and their full participation in social and economic life, as well as better coordination with the United Nations. Respect for women's rights must also be key condition of accesion negotiations with applicant countries.
Integrating migrant women
The report also calls on the Commission to take "practical steps to promote the emancipation and integration of migrant women", including "measures to foster language skills and understanding of the rights and duties deriving from the principles and laws applying in host countries and from the Union's core values" such as the prohibition of polygamy. These should be regarded as "requirements for acquiring the nationality of a Member State".
Role of the media
Lastly, the report stresses the role the media can play in publicising women's achievements, as a way of creating positive images of women and encouraging other women as well as men to work towards gender equality and a work-life balance. MEPs therefore call on the Commission to draw up measures on raising awareness in the media, for example through permanent consultation forums.
The Commission's roadmap in detail
The Commission’s proposed 2006-2010 gender equality roadmap identifies six priority action areas, subdivided into key actions.
Priority 1. Achieving equal economic independence for women and men
(a) Reaching the Lisbon targets
(b) Encouraging women to set up in business
(c) Gender equality in social protection and the fight against poverty
(d) Recognising the gender dimension in health
(e) Combating multiple discrimination, in particular against migrant women and those who belong to ethnic minorities
Priority 2. Enhancing reconciliation of work and family life
(a) Flexible working arrangements for women and men
(b) Expanding care services
(c) Better work-life balance policies for women and men
Priority 3. Promoting equal participation of women and men in decision-making
(a) Women’s participation in politics
(b) Women in economic decision-making
(c) Women in science and technology
Priority 4. Eradicating gender-based violence and trafficking in human beings
(a) Eradicating gender-based violence
(b) Eliminating trafficking in human beings
Priority 5. Eliminating gender stereotypes in society
(a) Eliminating gender stereotypes in education, training, and the arts
(b) Eliminating gender stereotypes on the labour market
(c) Eliminating gender stereotypes in the media
Priority 6. Promoting gender equality outside the EU
(a) Enforcement of EU legislation in acceding, applicant, and candidate countries;
(b) Promoting gender equality in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and in external and development polices.
Amalia SARTORI (EPP-ED, IT)Rapporteur :
Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006-2010
Procedure : own-initiative
Debate : 12.03.2007
