Equality between men and women

Summary minutes of 10/03/2004 – Provisional version

Equality between men and women

P5_TA-PROV(2004)0167

B5-0121/2004

Resolution of the European Parliament on the European Union’s policy on gender equality

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Article 42(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. having regard to the fact that on March 8th we celebrate International Women’s Day,

1. expresses, on the occasion particularly of this International Women’s Day, its solidarity with all women who are still unable to enjoy their fundamental rights, who continue to suffer from oppression both within and outside the family, who have been deprived of their dignity as human beings, who are disproportionately victims of violence, rape, female genital mutilation, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation, as well as other forms of serious discrimination;

2. expresses its support for all groups of women and individuals, who, often threatened with persecution, are active in promoting women’s rights in all their forms, and calls on them to continue their fight for a better and more humane world and for the achievement of full equality for all;

3. acknowledges that the European Union has played a central political role over the past 30 years in promoting gender equality and has set an example for other countries; for this reason, it calls on the Council to take the initiative at the United Nations level to organize a “Beijing +10” Conference;

4. expresses its regret that a number of Member States, while having incorporated all the directives on gender equality into their national legal systems, hesitate to introduce the necessary support measures to achieve real equality between women and men in everyday life, as highlighted in the Commission’s first annual report on gender inequalities, which confirms the still existing inequalities between women and men;

5. expresses its disappointment that Member States have not adequately implemented the Council’s recommendations on gender equality and that the decisions made at the Council meetings in Lisbon and Barcelona regarding greater female participation in employment and the quality and quantity of childcare provision have not been accompanied by appropriate policies at both the European and national levels;

6. calls on the Council to insist on its decision, made at the European Council summit in Nice on 7-10 December 2000, regarding the need for a new directive based on Article 13 of the Treaty, which would cover gender discrimination outside the area of employment and vocational training, and to proceed without delay with the adoption of such a directive, taking fully into account the opinion of Parliament;

7. calls on all 25 Member States, after 1 May 2004, to submit a list of three candidates of both genders for the position of Commissioner, as decided by the European Constitutional Convention;

8. highlights that in the history of the European Union, the position of President of the Commission has never been held by a woman, and calls on the Member States, in their search for a President, especially now that the European Union is beginning a new historic chapter in its existence, to actively seek female candidates for this position;

9. calls on the next President of the Commission, even if it is a man, to assign the portfolio of women’s rights and gender equality to one Commissioner as a main portfolio, and to ensure that this Commissioner will have the appropriate staff and financial resources to carry out their work, preferably in the form of a new Directorate-General for Women’s Rights;

10. calls on the Council, within the framework of its foreign policy and development aid policy, to ensure respect for women’s rights, particularly in countries where constitutional changes are taking place, such as Afghanistan and Iraq;

11. calls on the Commission, the Council, and the Member States to place the issue of women’s rights and gender equality at the top of their political agenda, and emphasizes that particular efforts must be made in the new Member States to reverse the existing downward trend in women’s participation in social, political, and economic life;

12. in view of the upcoming European elections, makes a final appeal to the leaders of the political parties of the European Union and the candidate countries to respect gender equality and to draw up lists with equal representation of both genders for the new Parliament;

13. calls on the Commission to intensify its efforts to establish a European Institute for Gender Issues, as requested by the European Parliament;

14. calls on the Council and the Commission to declare 2006 as the European Year Against Violence Against Women;

15. assigns to its President the task of forwarding this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the governments of the Member States and candidate countries.