Full Minutes of the Meetings

SESSION OF TUESDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2003

Daphne Programme II (2004-2008)

Karamanou (PSE). – Mr. President, Mr. Commissioner, the prevention and combating of violence against women and children is a high priority for the committee which I have the honor of chairing, and we are fighting to place it at the top of the European Union’s Agenda.

The Committee on Women, immediately after Beijing, made great efforts to combat violence, and these efforts resulted in the adoption of the DAPHNE programme, the extension of which until 2008 we are discussing today.

Our committee, with Mrs. Groner as the rapporteur, welcomes the adoption of the second phase of the DAPHNE programme until 2008, as well as the increase in its budget. Violence against women and children is known to be a widely spread phenomenon, but I would particularly like to mention an incident that occurred in the height of summer. Of course, this issue would not have received such widespread publicity in the international press if it had not involved the daughter of the famous French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant. We know that Marie Trintignant was beaten to death by her French musician and partner Bertrand Cantat. Of course, there are thousands of women who suffer violence on a daily basis within the European Union itself, thousands of women and children who face degrading treatment or even fatal violence from men like the esteemed Mr. Cantat. The UN even supports that domestic violence causes more deaths of women than cancer. Furthermore, in recent years, with the strengthening of migration flows, we know that thousands of women and children within Europe are victims of the new form of slavery, trafficking for economic and sexual exploitation.

This is a complete denial of fundamental human rights and freedoms, that is, everything that makes human life dignified. That is why my political group believes, due to the scale and escalation of the problem in recent years, that a significant increase in the budget is required, because the programme is the only financial source for the entities involved in the issue. During the previous period, the funding weaknesses limited the full implementation of the programme, as it failed to meet the increased demands, as Mrs. Aviles Perea mentioned earlier. Furthermore, it is known that our committee made efforts to raise awareness among the members of the Assembly in order to establish a strong legal basis for combating violence, but unfortunately, our appeal did not find a receptive audience.

Mr. President, I believe our rapporteur, Mrs. Groner, has addressed our demands in detail, and her report is indeed excellent.