Theme of the day of 30 April 2002

Rodi Kratsa MEP EPP-ED Co-ordinator for the Committee of the Women´s Rights and Equal Opportunities




Equality between men and women constitutes a principal issue in European construction since its very beginning, and it is being developed as integration proceeds. The Treaty of Rome enshrined the principle that men and women should receive equal pay for equal work (Article 141 of the EC Treaty). Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the promotion of gender equality figures among the tasks of the Community (article 2) and is a transversal objective (article 3) for it. Article 13 of the EC Treaty entitles the Commission to take initiatives to combat discrimination based, among other grounds, on sex. Article 141 is the legal basis for Community measures for equal opportunities and the equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment.

Today, the significance of equality in employment is recognised for the achievement of the Lisbon target: to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. In 2001, the percentage of women in employment was only 53% compared to the percentage of men in employment which was 72%. According to the Lisbon Summit conclusions, the number of women in employment should rise to more than 60% by 2010.

For this strategic goal to be reached, a broad mobilisation is necessary on both European and national levels for the implementation of a comprehensive policy that will aim at the integration of women into the labour market, at women preserving their jobs and at their advancement.

The equal opportunities objective forms part of a dual approach aimed at ensuring equality between women and men by means of gender mainstreaming in all policies and activities concerning the development to third countries and, at the same time, adopting specific positive measures for women.

On the employment issue, the EPP-ED supports all measures which allow for suppressing effective discrimination against women in recruitment practices, salary, and promotion and pays special attention to the application, the evaluation and the improvement of the existing community legislation concerning equality between women and men. We pay attention to the quality of work of women who usually work in low-paid jobs and have been identified as one of the most vulnerable groups regarding poverty and social exclusion. We call for statistics and indicators to be broken down by sex so that the situation of women in the employment market can be specifically followed.

The EPP-ED's priority is to move towards equality in family life as well as in professional life by managing working time in a way that currently applies only to women: all facilities and social infrastructure, part-time work, career breaks, parental leave, and leave for pressing family reasons.

During the last two years the Parliament, with the active support of the EPP-ED Group, agreed on a number of important action programmes such as the 2001-2005 Action Programme on Equal Opportunities for Men and Women and the EQUAL Programme which aims in particular to fight discrimination at the work place based on gender, race or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, disability or sexual orientation.

The EPP-ED condemns all forms of violence against women which are linked to an unequal balance of power between the sexes and can take place within the family, at the work-place, in society or during armed conflicts and emphasises that violence against women is a violation of the right to life, safety, liberty, dignity and physical and mental integrity of the victim and therefore an obstacle to the development of a democratic society.

The EPP-ED Group believes that the acquis communautaire concerning equality between men and women should be a prerequisite for enlargement. EPP-ED Group Members have participated in Parliamentary missions in candidate countries in order to become acquainted, informed and build the basis for co-operation with women from these countries.

In the field of external relations of the European Union, the EPP-ED Group makes efforts so that the rights of women and the principle of equality between men and women are integrated in the programmes, activities and policies of the EU concerning third countries (the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, the ACP-EU Partnership agreement signed in Cotonu, and the Stability Pact for the Balkans). The EPP-ED condemns the fundamentalist policies in the countries that oppress women's rights.

Finally, the EPP-ED Group accepted my proposal to incorporate the issue of gender equality into the agenda of its study days, so that all EPP-ED Members, men and women, will be informed of new challenges and can exchange views on our priorities.

Equality between men and women is not an issue that concerns women alone. It concerns the whole society: its democratic functioning, its competitiveness and its development. In order to achieve this goal on both national and European levels we need to work together, all of us, men and women.

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