MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
2.3.2005
pursuant to Rule 108(5) of the Rules of Procedure
by Cristiana Muscardini
on behalf of the UEN Group
on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women - Platform for Action (Beijing + 10)
B6‑0179
European Parliament resolution on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women - Platform for Action (Beijing + 10)
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the 1969 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
– having regard to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 18 December 1979,
– having regard to the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
– having regard to the Declaration and Action Programme adopted in Beijing on 15 September 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women,
– having regard to its resolution of 4 July 1996 on the follow-up to the Cairo Conference on population and development,[1]
– having regard to its resolution of 19 May 2000 on the Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament on ‘Further actions in the fight against trafficking in women’,[2]
– having regard to the Directive implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (Racial Equality Directive),[3]
– having regard to its legislative resolutions of 17 November 1999[4] and 9 March 2004[5] on the adoption of a Community Action Programme (DAPHNE) (2004-2008) on preventive measures to fight violence against children, young persons and women,
– having regard to its resolutions of 18 May[6] and 15 June 2000[7] on the follow-up to the Beijing action programme,
– having regard to its resolutions of 20 September 2001[8] and 19 December 2002[9] on equal pay for work of equal value for men and women and the representation of women among the social partners of the European Union,
– having regard to its resolution of 9 March 2004 on reconciling professional, family and private life,[10]
– having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. recalling that in the Treaty of Amsterdam very important provisions were adopted on gender equality and that the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Constitutional Treaty reinforce these provisions,
B. recalling that the Lisbon European Council set the objective of a female employment rate of more than 60 % to be achieved by 2010, and the Barcelona European Council set precise objectives concerning the childcare system and stressed the need to reconcile professional and family life, which has been reiterated in the Commission’s Strategic Objectives 2005-2009,
C. emphasising that the discrimination faced by women in the employment market and the professional environment have effects on their health and security, and inviting the Member States to implement Directive 2002/73/EC[11], which aims to eliminate discrimination, particularly sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination in relation to child-bearing,
D. whereas violence against women still exists and sexual exploitation has not decreased; whereas, according to estimates, between 100 000 and 150 000 women and children from third countries are victims of trafficking in the European Union every year,
E. whereas the specific crimes to which women fall victim during armed conflict (rape, forced pregnancy, sexual exploitation) require international recognition,
F. regretting that genital mutilation is still widespread, inter alia in the countries of the European Union (according to the WHO, two million women worldwide are subjected to these practices every year),
G. noting that female genital mutilation not only deprives woman of their dignity, but also causes serious physical diseases, with many irreversible health complications,
1. Calls on those UN member states that have not yet done so to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
2. Asks the Commission to state its intention of enforcing implementation of Article 141 of the EC Treaty and the existing directives, and to eliminate the salary differences between men and women; hopes that the social partners will be involved in this work and that they will give a greater role to women in their governing bodies;
3. Calls on the EU Member States to take the following measures to tackle gender gaps and multiple discrimination in employment:
- ∙evaluating the impact of part-time and atypical forms of working on social security contributions, retirement and the increase in poverty among women;
- ∙developing and implementing programmes for, and with, women to guarantee gender‑balanced access to new technologies, especially in the information sector, and to combat the difference in access to employment for women, who are more vulnerable to the risk of social exclusion and poverty;
4. Asks the Member States what measures they intend to take to improve employment rates among women; also invites the Commission, following transposition into the national legislations of the Directive concerning the policy to combat discrimination against women in the workplace, to do a qualitative and comparative evaluation of the provisions introduced;
5. Requests that in the framework of the mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy the dimension of equality between men and women be taken into consideration and placed on the agenda of the Spring European Council;
6. Supports the measures proposed by the Lisbon European Council aiming to facilitate reconciliation of professional and family life; also supports measures to increase participation by men in family life;
7. Stresses the importance of dividing the costs of parenthood more equally between the employers of the two parents;
8. Asks the Commission to present Parliament with a report assessing the results of the measures adopted by the Member States in recent years to fight trafficking in human beings, sexual tourism and child pornography, in particular in the new electronic communication systems (internet, blogs etc.), as well as a report on possible links between prostitution, sexual tourism and trafficking in human beings, with special reference to children, and asks the EU and the Member States to take these figures into consideration when signing agreements with third countries;
9. Stresses that many health problems concern women only, or affect them in a different way; notes, for example, that the specific effects of drugs on women are still not taken sufficiently into consideration; emphasises that diseases affecting mainly or only women, such as osteoporosis and endometriosis, are still not sufficiently well researched and treated, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to allocate adequate funds for research into these conditions; hopes that measures to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic will be strengthened, in particular among 15- to 25-year-olds in the European Union, the infection rate in this age group having recently increased, according to ONUSIDA figures;
10. Welcomes the Commission proposal on lifelong learning, and intends to contribute to its improvement in order to achieve a balanced participation of women in this programme;
11. Asks the Commission what measures it intends to propose in development aid in order better to involve women as indispensable partners in the various projects; calls on the Member States to insist on respect for women’s rights in their relations with third countries;
12. Calls on the Commission to pay special attention to the vulnerable situation of women in areas torn by armed conflict, for example in Kivu (eastern province of the Republic of Congo), Iraq and Darfur (Sudan), where women still suffer from various forms of harassment and violence in everyday life; reiterates its position against the death penalty, particularly executions of women accused of having children out of wedlock in Iran and other countries; expects the Iranian authorities to enact the promised legislation to prohibit the use of the death penalty against people below the age of eighteen;
13. Requests the Member States:
- -to adopt legislation, or to enforce their existing legislation, to put a stop to the female genital mutilation perpetrated on their territory;
- -to help the third countries concerned to set up programmes with the local NGOs in order to fight these practices;
14. Calls upon Member States identified as known sites of non-consensual sterilisation to coordinate law enforcement efforts and put an end to this practice;
15. Asks the Commission to draft a report on the implementation of the Beijing Action Platform in the countries of the European Union and to propose a follow-up strategy including the indicators set out by the various EU Presidencies;
16. Calls for International Women’s Day on 8 March 2005 to be dedicated to the fight against violence towards women and genital mutilation;
17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
- [1] OJ C 211, 22.7.1996, p. 31.
- [2] OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 307 + 5a.
- [3] OJ L 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22.
- [4] OJ C 189, 7.7.2000, p. 69.
- [5] Adopted text, P5_TA(2004)0143.
- [6] OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 258.
- [7] OJ C 67, 1.3.2001, p. 289.
- [8] OJ C 77E, 28.3.2002, p. 134.
- [9] OJ C 31E, 5.2.2004, p. 265.
- [10] Adopted text, P5_TA(2004)0152.
- [11] OJ L 269, 5.10.2002, p. 15.