Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-17-Speech-1-131"
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"en.20081117.22.1-131"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen. I would like to begin by saying that I for one find it quite unacceptable that women earn on average 15% less than men and that in the private sector the differential is as great as 25%. Let me stress in this respect that in my own country, Slovenia, women do not lag behind men in terms of education, so action needs to be taken. Many people probably question why it is necessary to take action at a European level and why the solution to this problem cannot be left to the Member States. One of the reasons is that it is taking too long for these differences to reduce and another reason is that in the majority of Member States there are too few women involved in politics for proper attention to be given to gender-related problems.
A minority is only in a position to highlight its problems in a credible manner if, in a particular institution, such as a parliament or a government, it makes up at least 30% of the total numbers. And there are a large number of European countries which do not have a 30% representation of women in politics. The average proportion of women in the governments of the Member States and in their parliaments is less than 30%. Our representation in the European parliament is 31%, which is just a little higher than the critical mass we need to highlight gender-related problems effectively. This is why we have to do so from here.
Another question I have asked myself is whether the proposed measures are too revolutionary and whether they contravene the principle of subsidiarity. Here I agree with the rapporteur when she says that the legislation is not effective enough and that it could and should be strengthened. Our proposals must be bold and must represent a valid starting-point for the shaping of real policies. I support her proposal that the Commission should prepare a new legislative proposal regarding the existing laws on equal pay for men and women by no later than 31 December next year and I congratulate her on a well-prepared report."@en1
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