18-04-2024 10:00
FEMM Activity Report 2019 - 2024
Other events
FEMM
On Thursday, 18 April 2024, the FEMM Committee published its activity report for the 9th legislative term (2019 - 2024).
Dear colleagues, dear friends,
As our time in this term's European Parliament ends, it is time we look back at the last 5 years of work in our committee. Saying that we have managed to do a lot would not pay justice to the work you all have put in into the many accomplishments of the FEMM committee these years. That is so because of a historic fact - it has been the most active legislative term since the FEMM committee was created. It is a great success that we all should be proud of. But we very well know, that it is not only the quantity but also the quality of our work that really matters.
We have made history in the area of women's economic independence and empowerment. We managed to unblock and adopt the Women on Board Directive, which had been blocked for 10 years. We managed to negotiate the revolutionary Pay Transparency Directive; a key instrument necessary to eliminate the gender pay gap, and finally truly enforce the principle of equal pay, enshrined in the Rome Treaty already in 1957. Hence, anyone can see that if something could not be done, but must be done, the FEMM committee members are the ones to do it.
We should also see progress in the area of tackling gender based violence as a great step forward to the EU that we managed to take thanks to our work. The accession of the EU for the Istanbul Convention was the first step followed with a very strong Directive on Combatting Violence Against Women. Maybe we have not managed to accomplish everything that our committee wanted, but we secured a new, strong legal framework that will improve the protection of European women for years to come. We agreed on the revision of the Anti-Trafficking Directive and introduced new standards for Equality Bodies, both key for protecting European people. We also managed to secure a very strong stance on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, what as we all know has been so crucial during this Parliamentary term.
This is not a place to list all and every one of our achievements; between all the negotiations, we have delivered many crucial resolutions and opinions; we have organised numerous public hearings and events, including the Gender Equality Week, which became and will remain a tradition in this house. Nevertheless, I hope that when we will look back at these years in our committee, we will not only remember the number of files that we concluded, but also all the fruitful discussions, all the friendships made and the time we have devoted to making this house, Europe but also ourselves better.
I would like to hereby thank you all, members, assistants and staff alike, for your tireless efforts, dedication and devotion to women's rights and gender equality. It has been an honour and a pleasure to work with all of you. Your knowledge, talent and passion have been and will remain a source of inspiration for me and those years spent together - I will never forget.
What a journey it has been?! Bravo!
Robert Biedroń - Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
As our time in this term's European Parliament ends, it is time we look back at the last 5 years of work in our committee. Saying that we have managed to do a lot would not pay justice to the work you all have put in into the many accomplishments of the FEMM committee these years. That is so because of a historic fact - it has been the most active legislative term since the FEMM committee was created. It is a great success that we all should be proud of. But we very well know, that it is not only the quantity but also the quality of our work that really matters.
We have made history in the area of women's economic independence and empowerment. We managed to unblock and adopt the Women on Board Directive, which had been blocked for 10 years. We managed to negotiate the revolutionary Pay Transparency Directive; a key instrument necessary to eliminate the gender pay gap, and finally truly enforce the principle of equal pay, enshrined in the Rome Treaty already in 1957. Hence, anyone can see that if something could not be done, but must be done, the FEMM committee members are the ones to do it.
We should also see progress in the area of tackling gender based violence as a great step forward to the EU that we managed to take thanks to our work. The accession of the EU for the Istanbul Convention was the first step followed with a very strong Directive on Combatting Violence Against Women. Maybe we have not managed to accomplish everything that our committee wanted, but we secured a new, strong legal framework that will improve the protection of European women for years to come. We agreed on the revision of the Anti-Trafficking Directive and introduced new standards for Equality Bodies, both key for protecting European people. We also managed to secure a very strong stance on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, what as we all know has been so crucial during this Parliamentary term.
This is not a place to list all and every one of our achievements; between all the negotiations, we have delivered many crucial resolutions and opinions; we have organised numerous public hearings and events, including the Gender Equality Week, which became and will remain a tradition in this house. Nevertheless, I hope that when we will look back at these years in our committee, we will not only remember the number of files that we concluded, but also all the fruitful discussions, all the friendships made and the time we have devoted to making this house, Europe but also ourselves better.
I would like to hereby thank you all, members, assistants and staff alike, for your tireless efforts, dedication and devotion to women's rights and gender equality. It has been an honour and a pleasure to work with all of you. Your knowledge, talent and passion have been and will remain a source of inspiration for me and those years spent together - I will never forget.
What a journey it has been?! Bravo!
Robert Biedroń - Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality