Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-06-Speech-4-039"
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"Madam President, that was an excellent contribution by Mrs Dybkjær. I am able to concur with it 100%. It was an excellent introduction to what this debate needs to be about.
First of all, I naturally wish to congratulate the European Parliament, in particular the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities and also Mrs Dybkjær as rapporteur, for having taken the initiative regarding this report. This too emphasises the importance of bringing about balanced representation for women and men in the decision-making process, especially in the run-up to the elections to the European Parliament next year.
We must take democracy seriously and take account of the equality issue in decision-making. If we profess democratic values, the representation of the people and citizens’ active participation, we cannot at the same time exclude half the population from the bodies in which the decisions are taken. Increased participation on the part of women also means better opportunities for society to take care of its citizens. We lose out on both resources and experience if women cannot be a part of political life. Women must be given access to the labour market and to politics in order to be able to advance professionally at a pace commensurate with their qualifications. In that way, proper use will be made of their skills. Unfortunately, it has so far been too often the case that men have been elected. That is something we must change.
As pointed out in the report, all the Member States have committed themselves to implementing the UN’s action plan from the 1995 Beijing Conference, together with a series of other international programmes in support of the principle of equal participation by women and men in decision-making bodies and in the decision-making process. These constitute the international framework within which we must all work.
Balanced representation for women and men in the decision-making process and in all areas of life is also the central theme of the Commission’s 2003-2004 Work Programme. The work on assessing which projects are to be subsidised from the gender equality programme is in its final phase right now.
I am also pleased to inform you that the Commission is at present developing a database on ‘Women and men in decision-making’. The database is one of a series of measures for developing and maintaining statistics, which are also important as a tool and for providing background information. The preparations for publishing the initial results from this database are currently under way. At the beginning of 2004, the content will be presented on the Commission’s web site. It will then be updated each year. The main aims of the database are firstly to measure progress in relation to the commitments made and, secondly, to bring about increased awareness in the present Member States, the EEA countries and the candidate countries of the situation regarding women and men in decision-making positions.
May I also mention the measures on decision-making which were recently adopted by the Italian Presidency with the support of the Commission and to which attention is drawn by the report. The Syracuse Conference, together with the subsequent informal meetings between the ministers for equality, emphasised the need to maintain the efforts to achieve balanced representation of women and men in the decision-making processes at all levels. It was also proposed that, by agreement between all the political parties, at least 30% of candidates they appoint to stand for election to the European Parliament should be women. The parties should, moreover, actively strive to achieve the objectives laid down by the Lisbon and Barcelona European Councils, particularly those affecting women directly: an employment rate among women of at least 60% by no later than 2010, together with regulations concerning access to good childcare at a reasonable cost. These objectives are also among the tools and basic conditions that will enable women to participate in political life and the life of society generally."@en1
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