Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-06-15-Speech-2-587"
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"en.20100615.32.2-587"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to discuss this issue. Allow me to begin with a question; a very simple question, but one which I think highlights the problem that we are talking about very well: if we had had Lehman Sisters instead of Lehman Brothers, would we be here today talking about this? We do not know because that is not the case, but what is clear is that the situation would have been very different from the one that we have today in the context of the credit crunch and the economic and financial crisis.
What we need are clear commitments, and I will say it once again: binding, mandatory commitments that have to be fulfilled. For example, establishing full employment, in terms of both men and women, but especially in terms of women, should be an objective in itself.
In short, a tangible objective is to aim for 75% female employment by 2020 or to reduce the salary gap to zero or to a maximum of 5%; something for which we have been asking for a long time. These are measures that are, at least, already being discussed and which some of us would like to be – and I repeat – mandatory.
We are aware that both Commissioner Reding and the Spanish Presidency have repeatedly raised these issues, and we want to invite not only the rest of the groups but also other countries to understand that this is not just a whim, it is an obligation and a need and – I repeat – it is an opportunity in relation to the crisis that we are experiencing. In any case, I would like to conclude by acknowledging the work, the support and all the contributions made by the different groups so that this text could be a consensus and a compromise, and could clearly highlight the problem as well as what is and should be the solution.
There is an extremely clear consensus among economists, both feminist and non-feminist, that the current crises have been caused by a series of institutions that are fundamentally, basically, run by men. We therefore have objective data that points to men being directly responsible for this situation.
We cannot say whether, if the majority had been women rather than men, the situation would have been the same, but I do believe that it is obvious that there would have been differences in both the cause and the management of the crisis and, of course, also in the current recovery.
I do think it is important to highlight another significant fact: the financial agencies, for example, that have a greater proportion of women in their management bodies have suffered much less from this type of situation. I think that this compels us to stop and think, which is what we are doing in this report.
To some extent, what we want to do is suggest that as well as being an extremely serious problem, this crisis is and must be an opportunity to correct some of the issues that led us along what was clearly an erroneous path. Bad policies and a lack of equality in many of those policies is one of those problems.
In this respect, I would like to point out and highlight very clearly some of the shortcomings of the political responses to the crisis. They are not taking advantage of this opportunity: for example, at no point has a gender perspective been used in what is known as the ‘post-Lisbon perspective’, which is the 2020 strategy. So far, at least, there has not been an explicit drive for clear macro-economic policies and guidelines on employment with a clear and obvious gender perspective to be established. It is one thing to have declarations, but what we are interested in here are tangible commitments.
The aim of this report is to at least open up the debate and put a few questions on the table that we feel are important. We are aware that there are some Member States, some governments – including the Presidency’s government: the Spanish Government – that have led the debate on this issue and put some issues on the table. As well as highlighting and acknowledging this, I also wish to support the coming presidencies, which are going to or will want to raise similar issues.
I do, however, think it is important to point out something else. If we really want to correct some of these mistakes, it is very important that we understand that the causes include a series of key elements, and the first of them is the lack of political will to make clear equality policies.
What we are therefore asking for in this report is firstly political will; secondly, imagination, which I think is important to highlight; and thirdly, and this is the key aspect of the report, measures that are tangible, clear and, if you will, binding and compulsory. We have had enough of good intentions."@en1
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