Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

Full Minutes of the Meetings

SESSION OF THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2002

Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (2001)

Karamanou (PSE). – Mr. President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, I would first like to warmly congratulate my colleague Mrs. Kratsa for her excellent report, which truly provides a very good overview of what has been achieved and what is yet to come.

Undoubtedly, there has been progress in the issue of gender equality, even though we are moving with two steps forward and one step back. The fact that some male colleagues have started to take the floor and strongly support gender equality indeed shows that progress is being made within the European Parliament as well. However, I would like to express my strong concern, as Ms. Gröner did earlier, about the fact that the assembly, which is discussing and planning the future of Europe without women, considers it almost unnecessary to seriously discuss the safeguarding and, above all, the practical implementation of gender equality in the new Treaty. Unfortunately, even on issues where there is Community legislation, we often find that infringements and violations occur, as happens with the legislation on equal pay for equal work. It is a fact that the resistance of the mindsets and structures created by centuries of patriarchy often proves to be stronger than any political will, even stronger than the legislation itself.

We also observe a serious delay, Commissioner, in the new directive that we have been waiting for a long time regarding the fight against discrimination based on Article 13. We are very concerned about the continuous delays in decision-making by the European Commission. What is the reason for this delay? Can the Commission respond to us? Why is this decision taking so long?

One more issue is the fight against the various forms of violence against women. We know that the various forms of violence have taken on explosive dimensions in the European Union. We know that thousands of women are literally at the mercy of traffickers. Of course, Commissioner, you mentioned the decisions taken by the Commission to combat human trafficking, but we are not at all sure that these decisions and the guidelines you provided will soon be reflected in the legislation of the member states, and we know that without judicial and police cooperation, that is, without pan-European cooperation, it will not be possible to combat the networks.

Finally, I would like to express my satisfaction, Commissioner, that you are prioritizing in the 2003 program the participation of women in decision-making bodies. This priority is of particular importance, as we look forward to a balanced participation of women and men in the new European Parliament that will result from the 2004 elections.