Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-08-Speech-1-084"
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"en.20040308.7.1-084"2
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"Mr President, the aim of the report on which we are about to vote is to strengthen legislation governing the situation of women in the EU. Such legislation has an enormous impact, in terms of ensuring that the fundamental rights of women are upheld and women are encouraged to achieve their full potential. This must apply not only to women but also to families, children and, consequently, to the future of our European societies.
While it is true, as Mrs Fraisse has just stated, that significant progress has been made in terms of reducing disparities, much remains to be done if we are to achieve the objectives set by the EU in this area. I should like to mention two significant commitments made in Lisbon: to reach a 60% employment rate among women in the EU by 2010; and to ensure that by 2010 at least 90% of children between three years old and mandatory school age are provided with proper child care. In this regard, I deplore the fact that we do not have a common social policy, the absence of which results in delays, which are sometimes substantial, in adopting certain directive proposals. I refer, inter alia, to those based on Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, which could prohibit for the first time any act of discrimination based on gender outside the job market, such as access to goods and services or the supply of these.
We, consequently, have no hesitation in endorsing Mrs Bastos’s excellent report, which would enable us to take the measures needed to ensure reconciliation of professional and family life. It therefore appears that we could introduce a directive, as we did for parental leave, in the next few years. In actual fact, whereas the concept of reconciling family and professional life has been around at European level for some time, this has not always been the case in practice, especially among companies, who often disregard this issue.
I therefore believe, Mr President, that we must support Mrs Bastos’s report. I should like to add that today we are fulfilling a dream, since certain Members who have sat in this House for some time are aware that the words ‘family’ and ‘child’, along with the concept of reconciling working life and family life, were taboo in this House ten years ago. We must rejoice in this debate held today on this 8 March."@en1
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