Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-17-Speech-1-112"
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am truly proud of the work carried out in this Parliament and of its ability to make use of the already recognised powers to propose legislation.
The report that we are about to vote on concerns a key issue, a fundamental principle of European law: the principle of equal pay for men and women in the workplace. Not only is it a fundamental principle, it is also the first, at least in order of time, among the principles of equality. We know that it was already included in the Treaty of Rome, we know that it has been applied since the very first judgments of the European Court of Justice, that it was already regulated by a directive dating back to 1975, and re-regulated when this directive was recast in 2006, that it is the subject of continual studies and research, as the Commissioner himself said, and of continual claims for its application.
Why then do we return to look at it again in such breadth and depth today? There are many reasons: firstly because we refuse to accept its widespread non-application, to which all the statistics bear witness, and secondly because we believe that the extreme injustice suffered by women in all countries of the European Union and in all professions, at all levels and in all sectors absolutely must be tackled, and it is in fact obvious that the instruments we possess will not suffice for this, otherwise after all this time we would surely have succeeded in reversing this trend.
Finally, because we believe it is time to take the pay gap seriously and above all not to look on it as a mere accident in the working lives of women. What, then, are we asking for? We are asking the Commission for a specific, pertinent directive on pay gaps in general, but we are not stopping there; we are not merely asking for a directive, we are sending the Commission precise recommendations. We have built a bridge to cross over to genuine change and we believe that this bridge can be solid if it rests on eight pillars.
First and foremost, we want to lay down a definition of pay discrimination; it is not enough to look at gross hourly pay alone because that would indicate direct discrimination and such direct discrimination has in fact already been overcome. It is no accident then, if all the research looks at the whole picture, pointing towards part-time working, encouraging us to consider direct and indirect segregation, discrimination and horizontal and vertical segregation.
We are calling for comparable, effective, consistent and complete data. All too often we encounter manipulated or hidden data, facilitated by systems for classifying personnel, from backward-looking working structures marked by stereotypes. We believe that equality organisations can play a key dual role in combating discrimination, by raising awareness and by providing training for the judiciary and for social partners.
We aim to introduce specific penalties, bearing in mind, however, that preventive action and measures are also required; we need positive action and integration, therefore mainstreaming. I hope that this House will adopt the text in its entirety, because the more precise and detailed the work we submit to the Commission, the more we will gain in effective speed. That, in fact, is our hope: it is not enough to talk or write about equal pay, we want to make it a reality."@en1
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