Stenograma dezbaterilor

Luni, 20 mai 2013 - Strasbourg

21. Drepturile femeilor în statele din Balcani candidate la aderare (prezentare succintă)

  La Présidente. - L'ordre du jour appelle le débat sur le rapport de Marije Cornelissen, au nom de la commission des droits de la femme et de l'égalité des genres, sur les droits des femmes dans les pays des Balkans candidats à l'adhésion (2012/2255(INI)) (A7-0136/2013)

  Marije Cornelissen, rapporteur. − Madam President, I will be speaking in English. I am so sorry for being slightly late; I have just got off a boat.

I would like to thank everybody who worked on this file with me. There are of course the shadows, but there is also the secretariat of the committee and there is the European Commission, which at every stage of this report brought us advice and shared their experiences with us and their expertise. That was really wonderful.

Also, almost all the governments of the Balkan countries reacted to the draft report and the amendments, as did at least two dozen NGOs and several agencies, so a lot of people were involved in creating this report.

In that sense, we can say that the report has already has served its purpose, even before the vote, because it has led to a broad debate on women’s rights in Balkan countries. I can already see that it has been taken up. The NGOs are using this report to further their goals. I have already been invited to a couple of parliaments to come and talk about the report after we have voted on it tomorrow. I am very happy to say that, in the time between the publication of the draft version and the version that is being voted on now, we could remove the paragraphs concerning recommendations for Croatia because they have already fulfilled it.

I would hope that by next year perhaps, or the year after, if a revision is made, we will be able to remove almost all paragraphs, because all countries will have met the recommendations and have tried to further women’s rights.

The most important point of this report is that a lot of rights now exist on paper. Countries in the Balkans have been very busy adopting all kinds of legislation to align with the EU acquis. But in practice, a lot of women can still not use it either because they do not know about it, because there are no institutions to report discrimination to, or because the rule of law does not yet work as it should for women.

Exceptionally, we have made not only a general recommendation for all the countries, but we have also set out very country-specific recommendations for each of the countries in the Western Balkans. We really hope that they will take up the gauntlet and start implementing them, so that we can remove these specific recommendations from future versions.

One of the things I would also like to mention, as I promised some colleagues, is that we had a bit of debate on what to call a certain country. The choice was whether to call this country the ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’, or to leave out the ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of’. In the end we reached a broad compromise, and we have decided to call it the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as a noun and to use ‘Macedonian’ as an adjective.

I hope that everybody in all the EU countries, as well as in the country mentioned, can live with that. It has been pointed out to me that not all linguistic versions comply with this, so I hope we can settle that problem so that everybody can be very happy with it and vote for it with all their hearts.

Interventions à la demande

  Joanna Katarzyna Skrzydlewska (PPE). - Pani Przewodnicząca! Dzięki temu sprawozdaniu możemy wyraźnie wyrazić nasze stanowisko dotyczące nierównego traktowania kobiet i mężczyzn w krajach bałkańskich. Myślę, że dużym problemem w tym zakresie mogą być pewne naleciałości i uwarunkowania kulturowe. Ciągle zdecydowanie mniej kobiet niż mężczyzn obecnych jest aktywnie na rynku pracy, a te, które już na nim są, poprzez stosowanie stereotypów płci mają gorszą sytuację niż mężczyźni. Taka społecznie akceptowalna i sprzeczna z podstawowymi zasadami demokracji nierówność płci musi napotkać nasz zdecydowany protest. W żadnym wypadku nie możemy też milczeć wobec przypadków przemocy stosowanej wobec kobiet ze względu na płeć.

Dlatego dobrze, że Parlament Europejski, zwracając się do rządów krajów bałkańskich, precyzyjnie formułuje swoje stanowisko, kierując uwagę na te aspekty dotyczące nierównego traktowania kobiet i mężczyzn, które budzą nasze największe obawy i zastrzeżenia. Mam nadzieję, że głos Parlamentu przyczyni się do poprawy sytuacji kobiet w tych krajach.

  Vasilica Viorica Dăncilă (S&D). - Conform unor studii recente, s-a constatat lipsa informaţiilor statistice privind egalitatea de gen, violenţa împotriva femeilor și încălcarea drepturilor acestora în ţările din Balcani candidate la aderare. Însă toate aceste date sunt absolut necesare pentru a putea lupta şi îmbunătăţi poziţia femeilor expuse discriminărilor multiple.

Comisia Europeană trebuie să supravegheze situaţia drepturilor femeilor, precum şi punerea lor în aplicare, şi să raporteze în detaliu îmbunătăţirea situaţiei lor sociale şi economice, consolidarea prezenţei lor pe piaţa forţei de muncă, garantarea unei reprezentări echitabile a femeilor în procesele decizionale, politice şi economice, dar şi încurajarea spiritului antreprenorial al femeilor, care este un element esenţial pentru întărirea şi consolidarea democraţiei în ţările baltice candidate la aderare.

  Angelika Werthmann (ALDE). - Frau Präsidentin! Sieben westliche Balkanländer sind Beitrittskandidaten, und sie haben alle sehr unterschiedlich hart gearbeitet, um notwendige Rechtsvorschriften zu den Rechten der Frau und der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter zu verabschieden. Doch die tatsächliche Umsetzung dieser Rechte, die das Ziel haben, gelebt zu werden, bedarf in manchen Fällen schon noch einiger Schritte.

Diese Länder sind auf ihrem Weg, wie schon gesagt, unterschiedlich weit gekommen. So wird einmal ein Land aufgefordert, Frauen in den politischen Entscheidungsprozess verstärkt einzubinden, oder es muss ein anderes Mal die Gleichstellung eingemahnt werden. Alles in allem möchte ich der Kollegin sagen: Es ist ein sehr ausgewogener und sehr objektiver Bericht. Was mir besonders gut gefallen hat, ist, dass die erreichten Schritte auch wirklich deutlich hervorgehoben werden. Daher mein Appell an diese Länder, ihren Bestrebungen und ihren Bemühungen weiter zu folgen!

  Ulrike Lunacek (Verts/ALE). - Madam President, I would also like to thank the rapporteur and the shadows for a really good report. As my colleague Marije Cornelissen has said, some countries have already reacted to the criticism contained in the report and acted on it.

I think it is extremely important to focus on the role of women in the Western Balkan countries – as everywhere else, but at this moment in the Western Balkan countries – because it is so important, after the wars there in the 1990s and up till 13 years ago, to focus also on the importance of the empowerment of women. Issues like war rape are still not on the table in many countries, and war criminals, whatever their ethnic origin, have not been brought to justice. Women who were raped in the wars have not had their justice yet. This is something that this report focuses on, and I think it is extremely important that the justice system also focuses on that and on the political participation of women. One country, Kosovo, has one third of women by law. All the others should have this as well and should put it into practice, not just on paper.

  Jaroslav Paška (EFD). - Aj keď rozumiem prístupu pani poslankyne Cornelissen, že pri hodnotení postavenia žien a dodržiavaní ich práv v balkánskych krajinách nechce poukazovať na zistené nedostatky, predsa len nemôžem prehliadnuť rozdielnosť medzi konštatovaniami z predloženej správy a naším uznesením z minulého mesiaca, kde sme v bode 38 hodnotenia procesu integrácie Kosova vyzvali kosovskú vládu aj Parlament, aby boli aktívnejší pri vykonávaní predpisov namierených proti domácemu násiliu a obchodovaniu s ľuďmi v tejto krajine. Konštatovali sme tiež znepokojenie nad vysokou mierou neukončeného vzdelania dievčat v Kosove, ako aj na nedostatočné zastúpenie žien v kľúčových sektoroch spoločnosti. Možno by preto bolo dobré, keby obsah dokumentov, v ktorých hodnotíme tú istú problematiku, v tej istej krajine, prakticky v tom istom čase, čo najviac korešpondoval.

  Eduard Kukan (PPE). - Madam President, in the face of the traditional thinking and the stereotypes which still exist in the Balkan countries, respect for women’s rights is a crucial sign of modernisation. As EU representatives, it is our obligation to contribute to the healthier and more modern societies which will one day become part of our European family.

I am convinced that the EU could be more supportive in mainstreaming women’s rights in the region. I am somewhat hesitant, however, as to whether this should be done through positive discrimination and quotas for women, or rather by creating and helping to improve conditions for women’s entrepreneurship, their political engagement and the elimination of discrimination and stereotyping.

As a politician, I often meet women from the region who have achieved high political positions – the President of Kosovo, Ministers for Integration from Albania and Serbia, the former Minister for Integration of Macedonia and important parliamentarians, for example. I can see that they are proud to hold these positions without the support of quotas.

I would like to show my appreciation to Marije Cornelissen for her unselfish commitment on this important issue.

  Mojca Kleva Kekuš (S&D). - V imenu S&D bi se želela zahvaliti poročevalki za izjemno dobro in pomembno poročilo, ki poudarja pomen enakosti in enkopravnosti v državah Zahodnega Balkana.

Čeprav se zgodba o enakosti na Balkanu izboljšuje, še vedno obstajajo problemi, s katerimi se bodo morale države soočiti. Prvi problem, ki smo ga v poročilu tudi z amandmaji izpostavili, je nizko število žensk na trgu dela. Kar pomeni, da so ženske še vedno v večini primerov odvisne od moških.

Drugi problem pa je pomanjkanje žensk na odločevalskih položajih tako v politiki kot v gospodarstvu. Osebno menim, da za dosego enakosti tudi na tem področju so zelo pomembne implementacija kvot, ki jih ena država že ima, druge pa še nimajo, in odprava stereotipov, ki za Zahodni Balkan še vedno velja.

Čas je, da se vlade teh držav zavežejo, da bodo spoštovale mednarodne standarde ne samo politično, ampak tudi v zakonodaji, ki jo sprejemajo. Kot je poročevalka sama rekla, zakonodaja je nekaj, praksa pa nekaj drugega.

  Petru Constantin Luhan (PPE). - Principiul de egalitate în ţările candidate nu are încă o compatibilitate totală cu legislaţia internă a acestora şi, de aceea, în practică aceste drepturi rămân încă o necesitate. Participarea femeilor în viaţa politică a acestor ţări este fundamentală în stabilizarea şi soluţionarea conflictelor şi va accelera, bineînţeles, aderarea la Uniunea Europeană.

Este inacceptabil ca, până în prezent, în special în zonele rurale, o parte din femei să devină încă victime ale discriminării din motive religioase sau etnice. Lipsa unor instrumente juridice contra violenţei domestice, lipsa finanţării contracepţiei, sunt câteva exemple care frânează implementarea drepturilor fundamentale în aceste ţări. Recomand ţărilor din Balcani un benchmarking eficient şi o reformă legislativă care să aibă ca obiectiv principal implementarea valorilor Uniunii Europene în ceea ce priveşte egalitatea de şanse.

  Sergio Gaetano Cofferati (S&D). - Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, il tema dei diritti delle donne è un tema importante sempre e lo è ancor di più e a maggior ragione quando riguarda paesi che si stanno incamminando verso la normalizzazione dell'acquisita democrazia.

È molto importante però che questo tema venga osservato sia nella cittadinanza, come si fa normalmente, ma anche nella sfera del lavoro. Le donne sono oggettivamente un soggetto debole nel mercato del lavoro e lo sono ancora di più quando la crisi incalza e quando produce danni rilevanti, come quelli che sono di fronte agli occhi di tutti.

Per questa ragione bisogna prestare un'attenzione specifica e particolare a tutto ciò che riguarda le modalità e i contenuti dell'attività lavorativa delle donne, che spesso hanno difficoltà a trovare un impiego – che è un impiego spesso povero perché non ha elementi di conoscenza sufficienti – e il più delle volte sono anche penalizzate quando realizzano la loro attività, perché sono discriminate rispetto agli uomini sul piano della retribuzione o dei diritti concreti. Per cui è auspicabile che sempre si guardi alla cittadinanza e contestualmente al lavoro.

IN THE CHAIR: EDWARD McMILLAN-SCOTT
Vice-President

  Seán Kelly (PPE). - Mr President, my compliments to the rapporteur for her good work in this area.

Obviously, equality is something that we all cherish, but unfortunately it does not often happen in practice, especially if you attend Parliament here on a Thursday afternoon when we are dealing with human rights issues across the globe. In some countries women have very few rights indeed, and we try to correct that.

But equally, even within the European Union, while we have equality officially, the opportunities for women to progress are often very difficult and there are barriers which we are speaking about in terms of opportunities in politics, boards, etc.

For that reason it is very important that the accession countries should have equality as a priority and that they should be seen to be making progress in terms of equality between men and women, otherwise they should be told that they will not be allowed to join the European Union.

  Piotr Borys (PPE). - Ja również chciałbym pogratulować sprawozdawczyni tego dobrego sprawozdania. Zawsze, kiedy mówimy o prawach kobiet, musimy nawiązać do historii. Bałkany to już częściowo członkowie Unii Europejskiej, częściowo kraje kandydujące, z bardzo skomplikowaną i trudną historią. Dlatego kwestia rozliczeń wszelkich trudności, które miały miejsce w czasie wojen, wymaga oczywiście zakończenia, szczególnie w kontekście łamania praw kobiet. Ale uważam, że dzisiaj jesteśmy w stanie podzielić się dobrymi praktykami, dobrymi doświadczeniami. Uważam, że szczególnie dzisiaj powinniśmy promować jeszcze większą partycypację kobiet w życiu publicznym, kwestię udziału kobiet w sferach gospodarczych, w kierowaniu przedsiębiorstwami. To są wszystko dobre praktyki.

Kwestie te muszą być podejmowane równolegle, tym bardziej że docelowo musimy liczyć się z tym i zabiegać o to, aby całe Bałkany weszły do Unii Europejskiej. Dlatego kwestia polityki genderowej i praw kobiet jest niezwykle ważna, choć niezwykle delikatna, i powinniśmy być tutaj dobrym przykładem w przygotowywaniu wszelkich aktów prawnych, dostosowywaniu prawa, ale także przede wszystkim w tym, aby monitorować sytuację praw kobiet na Bałkanach. Wydaje mi się, że to sprawozdanie będzie temu służyć.

(End of catch-the-eye procedure)

  Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the Commission. − Mr President, honourable Members, I welcome Ms Cornelissen’s report on women’s rights in the Balkan accession countries.

I am glad to note that the report takes into account the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society organisations, parliamentarians and government representatives across the region, and it identifies issues which the Commission also considers important in assessing the progress made on gender equality in the Western Balkans.

As the report mentions, the implementation and enforcement of legislation in this area is key, and therefore the Commission not only helps with transposition of the acquis in the field of gender equality in the candidate countries and potential candidate countries but also provides financial support and monitors the implementation and effective enforcement of national legislation through the various instruments of the pre-accession strategies.

As you well know, full transposition and enforcement of all European Union directives in the field of gender equality is a strict condition for membership of the Union. It is also vital to develop institutional and administrative structures that facilitate the implementation and enforcement of equality rights.

In this context, the Commission has encouraged a stronger focus on gender equality and women’s rights in the Western Balkans. For example, we provide assistance for the training of judges in this area and we cooperate with non-governmental organisations dealing with gender equality. European instruments for democracy and human rights can grant direct funding to women’s rights organisations, which have benefitted immensely from this mechanism.

Women’s rights initiatives have also been strengthened through the European Union’s Technical Assistance for Civil Society Organisations project.

Back in our 2011 enlargement strategy, we proposed an innovative approach to trigger domestic change in the field of justice and fundamental rights. The strategy presented stronger mechanisms while transforming Chapter 24, on justice, freedom and security, and Chapter 23, on judiciary and fundamental rights, into powerful incentives for reform. Chapter 23 is among the first chapters to be opened and the last to be closed once a solid track record of reform implementation has been achieved.

Let me conclude by noting with satisfaction that Croatia, as a future Member State, has completed legal alignment in the field of gender equality, and I warmly welcome your suggestion that the gender equality ombudsperson in Croatia could serve as an example for the whole region.

This is another example of the transformative power of the enlargement process.

  President. − The debate is closed.

The vote will take place on Tuesday, 21 May 2013.

Written statements (Rule 149)

  Kinga Gál (PPE), in writing. – I would like to welcome this report on the situation of women in the Western Balkans. However, one must not forget that apart from women, another very vulnerable group in this region is children. There are numerous challenges such as child poverty, social inclusion and violence against children that need to be faced. The EU provides opportunities for its citizens and beyond. However, any opportunity is worth only as much as it is accessible. Access has to be guaranteed to different rights and to education within and outside the EU. If children are not educated properly, they are left without jobs and skills. In this regard the role and importance of mother tongue education should also be emphasised in the case of national minorities living in the Western Balkans. Furthermore, with regard to higher education, visa-free travel has key importance in order to have access to international experience. Lasting development can only be based on – and begins with – improvements to the well-being of the most marginalised and vulnerable children and adolescents. But in order to achieve this goal, strong partnerships are needed between all the relevant actors.

  Lívia Járóka (PPE), in writing. – Despite countries in the Western Balkans having gender equality legislation in place, in most cases the population is not aware of existing policies to promote equality between women and men, and they rarely reach the vulnerable or marginalised members of society, especially Roma women. Trafficking in human beings in the area is alarming, with 30 % of trafficking victims in the EU being nationals from the Balkans. Accession countries must therefore provide sustained funding for combating trafficking, further strengthen their capacity to proactively identify and protect victims among the vulnerable populations, and ensure that identified victims are not punished for committing crimes if forced to do so by their traffickers. It is also of concern that in most of the Balkan accession countries, the process for the social inclusion of the Roma has slowed down and in some cases even come to a halt. Balkan countries must therefore step up their efforts to further integrate Roma citizens and guarantee the elimination of all forms of discrimination. The Commission must also enhance its efforts to involve the enlargement countries at whatever stage of accession, to mobilise the Instrument on Pre-Accession Assistance and the mechanism of the Stabilisation and Association process.

  Daciana Octavia Sârbu (S&D), în scris. – Pentru a adera la UE, ţările din Balcanii de Vest trebuie să îşi însuşească acquis-ul comunitar privitor la egalitatea de gen.

Aş dori să îmi exprim îngrijorarea în legătură cu faptul că 30% dintre victimele traficului transfrontalier de fiinţe umane la nivelul Uniunii Europene sunt cetăţeni din ţările balcanice, cea mai mare parte a victimelor depistate fiind femei şi fete. În acest sens, aceste ţări trebuie să susţină campanii de conştientizare, dar şi măsuri concrete de combatere a corupţiei şi crimei organizate pentru prevenirea traficului.

Cred însă că au fost făcute şi anumite progrese privind egalitatea de gen şi cu această ocazie ţin să felicit iniţiativele transfrontaliere din ultimii ani în acest domeniu. Cred că acest gen de acţiuni trebuie sprijinite mai consistent de către guvernele naţionale şi Comisia Europeană.

  Jarosław Leszek Wałęsa (PPE), na piśmie. – Republiki byłej Jugosławii już od zakończenia wojny domowej prowadzą działania na rzecz demokratyzacji. Istotnym jej elementem jest poszanowanie praw człowieka, w tym, w szczególności, praw kobiet. W perspektywie przystąpienia części krajów bałkańskich do Unii Europejskiej konieczne jest, aby przyjęły one acquis communautaire w całości. Jednak trzeba pamiętać, że nie wystarczy jedynie dostosować prawo krajowe do dorobku wspólnotowego. Przede wszystkim należy stworzyć odpowiednie warunki, dzięki którym kobiety będą mogły korzystać ze swoich praw w sposób rzeczywisty. Poprzez wypracowanie oraz wdrożenie konkretnych narzędzi szybciej i efektywniej będzie można doprowadzić między innymi do aktywizacji zawodowej wśród kobiet oraz wyrównania poziomu płac. Chciałbym również pogratulować Chorwacji, iż udało jej się wypełnić rekomendacje Unii Europejskiej. Myślę, że ten kraj jest dobrym przykładem dla pozostałych republik byłej Jugosławii w kwestii zacieśniania współpracy z Unią Europejską. Mając na uwadze fakt, iż sprawy dotyczące polityki społecznej są niezwykle delikatne, a do przeprowadzenia jakichkolwiek w niej zmian potrzeba bardzo dużo czasu, chciałbym wyrazić pełną aprobatę dla intensyfikacji działań na rzecz praw kobiet w krajach bałkańskich. Równość obywatelska jest ogromną wartością oraz jednym z nadrzędnych celów Unii Europejskiej, dlatego mam nadzieję, że Parlament nie pozostanie obojętny w tej kwestii.