Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-10-23-Speech-2-235"
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"Mr President, Mrs Diamantopoulou, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I would like to thank Mrs Hautala for her unstinting effort, prior to the summer and also today, in wanting to give the Commission’s proposal some structure, whilst reiterating the need for specific directives, such as equal pay, protection during pregnancy and motherhood, and now the recognition of types of harassment, and that of the reconciliation of family and working life. Thank you, Mrs Hautala, for having done so much work, which was not easy.
I would now like to explain why the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party and I support the amendment by Mrs Hautala. The Commission is certainly willing to recognise the right of fathers to look after their children. We have the recommendation on the protection of workers who look after their children. Why stop, though, when things are going so well? We now need, and this is the purpose of our amendment, to acknowledge that inequality, or discrimination in other words, can exist, with regard to fathers, when they want to look after their children. Why did the Committee on Women’s Rights not go this far? Personally, I do not understand this and I would hope that we are a little more reasonable in the future. What will happen if we are? Not only more quibbling, as Mrs Lulling believes, but, quite simply, better recognition of what is needed – not only by women, but by men as well – in order to be able to have both a family and a career. If we do not do both, we are not living in the twenty-first century, as Mrs van der Laan said. That is why I believe that this amendment simply provides the possibility of extending the right of fathers, something that we also hope for and want to acknowledge. That is why I think it is important to support this amendment.
In addition, I would now like to highlight several points that are new in these proposals for amendments. On the one hand, the introduction of adoption is very important, this is something new, which we must weigh up. Next, I must say that my group supports the need to set out some positive measures. We must not be satisfied with dealing with this at arm's length, we must clearly define these measures and this is what has been done, as a solid legal instrument will be the result. I feel that we must also support the possibility of associations and organisations commencing proceedings. In doing this, we recognise that there will not just be individuals faced with a law or faced with proceedings, but also bodies which can support these individuals. This may be the reason that, whilst it is worthwhile, and whilst we can welcome the protection of workers’ representatives who support complainants against discrimination, on the other hand, we have done away with the protection of possible witnesses, or of individuals who witness the harassment or discrimination that some individuals experience, and I think this is a real pity. I personally deplore this, even though we did not table an amendment on this for tomorrow.
Mr President, Mrs Diamantopoulou, ladies and gentlemen, these are the points that I wanted to make, on behalf of my group."@en1
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