Equal Treatment of Men and Women

SESSION OF TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2001

Equal treatment of men and women (access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions)

Karamanou (PSE). – Mr. President, the amendment of the 1976 directive is an extremely significant event that demonstrates the Commission’s sensitivity to issues of equal treatment of the two sexes. The Committee on Women’s Rights, thanks to the tireless efforts of our rapporteur, Ms. Hautala, and other colleagues, has contributed to the presentation today of an improved text that gathers broad consensus. For this reason, we expect the enthusiastic support of the Commission as well as the Council. The new directive certainly responds to the new conditions that have arisen over the past twenty-five years in the fields of employment and vocational training for women and replaces an outdated legal framework that has significantly contributed to discrimination against women, serious deviations from the principle of equality, increased unemployment rates, the exclusion of women from many professional sectors, and, in general, the division of the labor market by gender.

I would like to inform you that recently the Hellenic Parliament almost unanimously replaced a similar provision in the Constitution that also allowed for deviations from the principle of gender equality in the labor market. The Hautala report takes a step toward shaping a better framework and introduces new areas of action, such as measures for the prevention and combatting of sexual harassment in the workplace, effective protection of workers from discrimination related to pregnancy and maternity, judicial protection, positive measures for the practical implementation of equality, as emphasized by many colleagues, as well as sanctions in cases of violation of the directive. However, I believe that the directive could be clearer in defining objective criteria only for the selection of any job position and should not leave loopholes for deviations and exclusions based on gender.