Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-31-Speech-4-009"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010531.1.4-009"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I should like to add my voice to the congratulations being offered to Mrs Heidi Hautala: she has sought compromises, she has come halfway to meet our various concerns. Consequently, I hope that her efforts will be rewarded at eleven o’clock, since a report in which so much hard work has been invested and about which there should be a large measure of agreement, must be assured of a sizeable majority in this Parliament. You can count on my group at any rate.
When people ask me what the value added of Europe is, it is always very easy simply to give the examples of what Europe has done to promote equal rights for men and women. A great deal has already changed, including in my own country, the Netherlands. We sometimes think that we are in the vanguard, but the truth is far from that and a great deal still needs to change. This revision is very important in that respect and accordingly I am glad that this is now going ahead in Europe.
Mr President, sexual harassment at work must be outlawed. It is terribly difficult to combat. Victims feel they are alone. It really is a major step forward that this will now be regarded as discrimination, because that allows us to deal with the problem better. But of course the saying “prevention is better than cure” applies here too. And if companies are now obliged to take preventive measures, that simply means that this problem, if things go well, will be banished.
Motherhood will be better protected by this legislation, since it is unfortunately still the case that with applications or career decisions, employers still weigh up whether they will be “losing” a woman for a time, because that is how they still see it, to maternity leave. The only way of ensuring that such weighing up no longer takes place and that that form of discrimination disappears is to ensure a much better distribution of care responsibilities between men and women. That is also the reason why our group feels it is important that paternity leave can be claimed by men, and that if that option does not exist, this is simply another case of discrimination. Hence our amendment. I must say that I was surprised that Christian Democrats in the women’s committee tried to remove it. My understanding was that there is now a pact on the matter. I hope that this is indeed the case, and that at eleven o’clock it will prove so and that at eleven o’clock we shall all be here and we will be able to give a very clear signal that fathers should be entitled to leave too.
In conclusion, Mr President, a few words about the exemplary role that European institutions could play in this. I mean the intended amendment of the terms of employment of employees of institutions like, for example this Parliament, and also the Commission. If we look at opportunities for maternity leave in the European institutions, we see that the situation is depressing. I hope that the Commissioner will be able to point out to her colleagues that they have an important function in showing that we, at any rate, do things in a certain way in these institutions and can use this to give an important signal to Europe."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples