Strasbourg round-up: Equality between women and men in the European Union - 2012 report

The scope of the Equality between women and men in the European Union - 2012 report is questioned as it is narrowly rejected in the Strasbourg plenary session. Anne Delvaux, Mojca Kleva Kekuš, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Marije Cornelissen and Marina Yannakoudakis report

14 Mar 2014

Anne Delvaux, Mojca Kleva Kekuš, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Marije Cornelissen and Marina Yannakoudakis report

Anne Delvaux is parliament's EPP group shadow rapporteur on Equality between women and men in the European Union - 2012

Ne nous voilons pas la face; si, en matière d'égalité des genres, des progrès sont enregistrés çà et là, l'évaluation annuelle de ces progrès à l'échelle européenne démontre combien la tâche en la matière reste colossale !

Salaires, perspectives de carrières, égalité des chances en termes d'éducation, de lutte contre les stéréotypes sexistes ou de violence conjugale... Les combats quotidiens restent identiques...

Il s'agit là d'une question de droit fondamental qui ne peut souffrir ni de récupération politique, ni de détournement idéologique!

C'est pour cette raison que le PPE a décidé de déposer une résolution alternative équilibrée, objective et qui n'élude aucune question essentielle: indépendance économique et égalité des salaires, égalité de traitement dans les processus décisionnels, lutte contre les violences faites aux femmes, santé des femmes et santé génésique, congés parentaux ou encore combat contre les stéréotypes. Toutes les facettes d'un engagement pour une plus grande égalité des genres étaient abordées dans ce texte.



Il s'agit là d'une question de droit fondamental qui ne peut souffrir ni de récupération politique, ni de détournement idéologique!Anne Delvaux

Nous devions être clairs; prôner l'égalité des genres telle que présentée dans la résolution initiale, à travers un seul prisme, sans lésiner sur les simplismes et raccourcis faciles, n'aide assurément pas la cause des femmes ! Des analyses et des solutions partisanes sont tout simplement inapplicables à l'échelle de l'Union, car la réalité des femmes européennes présente au moins 28 visages différents.

Il est tout à fait regrettable que le Parlement n'ait pas pu se mettre d'accord sur un positionnement commun, avec un message clair. Le combat pour l'égalité des genres sur notre Continent le mérite assurément!


Mojca Kleva Kekuš is parliament's S&D group shadow rapporteur on Equality between women and men in the European Union - 2012

Gender inequality unfortunately still represents a huge barrier for women. Admittedly, there has been some progress in the field of gender equality, but there are still a lot of issues that will need to be addressed in the future if we want to live in a society with equal opportunities for all. However, things cannot change if the right policies are not in place. That is why I regret that the right wing in the European parliament rejected the in-depth progress report on gender equality for the year 2012, which addressed the core problems that women face on a daily basis.

[The report] did not contain a clear and strong message to the European commission, the council or the member states - Marije Cornelissen


The crisis has hit women hard. The gender pay and pension gap still negatively affect women's lives. Women are still overrepresented in precarious employment. Reconciliation of work and family life remains one of the main challenges for women who want to enter or return to the labour market. Furthermore, our society is faced with a persistent problem of violence against women and prevailing stereotypes. Much to my disbelief, the right of women to decide about their own bodies is again being put up for discussion. Unacceptable for a society of the 21st century.


Izaskun Bilbao Barandica is parliament's ALDE group shadow rapporteur on Equality between women and men in the European Union - 2012

Gender equality is an investment and a matter of justice. Inequality is not only an injustice, besides generating marginalisation, harming fundamental rights and often resulting in violence, it is also a disaster from an economic point of view. The inequality implies missed the workforce, training and the ability to half the population. And that is inefficient.

Dozens of studies show that women with the same preparation as men bring other skills to the economy and they improve the dynamics of coexistence. As an example, because women have learned a lot about emotional management that is now a factor of excellence and competitiveness. We must measure this contribution to make it visible.

Everyone needs to know these figures, but especially the skeptics. Things really start to change when those who resist equality understand that we are talking about development, competitiveness, innovation and efficiency. This is also a matter of values, humanity and fundamental rights. These people are usually the same as those who are cutting the European social model under the guise of austerity.

If you really aspire to smart, sustainable and inclusive development we can no longer marginalise the talent, ability and knowledge when it is women who provide these resources. Such attitude is unsustainable, and it doesn't produce social cohesion. Inequality is incompatible with the 2020 strategy.


Marije Cornelissen is parliament's Greens/EFA group shadow rapporteur on Equality between women and men in the European Union - 2012

Some initiative reports in the European parliament are referred to as 'Christmas trees'. These are reports that branch out into all kinds of areas other than the central topic of the report. The report, 'Equality between women and men in 2012', was an archetypical example of such a Christmas tree. The danger of that was already enshrined in the title of the report. Since women are half of the world's population, every imaginable issue concerns gender equality. The task of the MEPs working on the report was therefore not so much to list everything they could possibly think of, but to prioritise in order to deliver a clear message. What were the main developments in the past years, and what should be the priorities in the field of equality in the coming mandate?

Alas, that is not what happened. The original draft had 11 paragraphs, but after the women' rights and gender equality committee was done with it, it contained over 80 paragraphs. And within those 80 paragraphs, there was something for almost everyone to be against. An emphasis on austerity measures as the core reason for women's woes turned off Liberal members. Paragraphs on sexual and reproductive rights were problematic for some EPP members. A rabid paragraph on prostitution as a form of violence against women meant that some of the Greens couldn't vote in favour of the end result, including myself. And ECR might have been against the report for all of the reasons above.

So who won and who lost? It's almost impossible to say. In any case, the EPP lost on content. Their alternative motion for a resolution was voted down and the paragraphs on sexual and reproductive rights they wanted to scrap got a sounding majority. The S&D lost on social skills. They did not engage in any of the negotiations and voted happily in favour of all the trim and tinsel in the Christmas tree, knowing full well that this would sink the report. In the end, it matters very little for the men and women in Europe whether the report was rejected or adopted. It did not contain a clear and strong message to the European commission, the council or the member states, just 80 little messages that are easy to disregard.

What should that clear message have been? In my opinion, there should have been two key points. The first is that we need further action from council and commission to complete the legal framework for gender equality. Council needs to do its part in unblocking the directives on maternity and paternity leave and on women on boards that the EP has delivered to them. The commission needs to come out with new proposals on adoption and filial leave, on the gender pay gap and on violence against women, as the EP has asked in several different reports. The second point is that women need to be involved and gender needs to be mainstreamed in all stages and instruments of economic governance, so that measures to get out of the crisis alleviate rather than exacerbate poverty and unemployment for women. These are areas that the EU has competence on and that might actually improve women's lives and equality between the sexes. Most other points are mainly trim and tinsel.


Marina Yannakoudakis is a member of parliament's women's rights and gender equality committee (from press release)

While the report can be commended for including calls to combat violence against women, end gender-based violence as a whole and promote equal pay for equal work, the report went too far in an attempt to create a supranational framework, giving member states no say or control over equality issues.

The Conservatives are wholly committed to preserving and fostering a society where women and men enjoy equality of opportunity and equal treatment across all areas of life, but efforts to eradicate discrimination or unfairness must come from member states. Only tailor-made policies taking into account varying traditional, cultural and social backgrounds can successfully alter attitudes and current situations.