Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-10-Speech-1-205-000"
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"en.20120910.27.1-205-000"2
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"Madam President, honourable Members, I would like to thank Ms García Pérez for her report on the working conditions of female workers. This report offers a comprehensive but gloomy picture – an assessment that the Commission shares.
This House knows and supports Vice-President Reding’s commitment to making rapid progress on the representation of women in top positions in the corporate sector. Given the insufficient and unequal progress so far, the Commission is now considering taking an EU-level measure.
Second, I would also draw your attention to the employment package, which points to women’s integration into the labour market. The employment package also calls on the Member States to establish national job plans within their national reform programmes and use them to focus on job creation and to fine-tune the use of the structural funds to increase employment opportunities. Indeed, stronger governance of employment policy can provide a strong framework for improving the work conditions of the female workforce. According to the sectoral approach of the package, the Commission will promote white-collar, green and ICT careers in order to attract under-represented profiles such as women.
Third, a job is the best guarantee to avoid unemployment and exclusion in society. However, at the outset of the current economic downturn, social inclusion should be taken into account.
Our commitment is clear: to encourage development of the necessary social services within the framework of elaborating policy options and tackling the long-term care challenges. It can ease employment patterns so that women can enter the labour market.
I believe that these provisions make things change on the ground and will close the gap between women and men.
Women are over-represented in low-quality, precarious positions and frequently have few opportunities for career advancement. Lack of policies to reconcile work and family or private life, inappropriate incentives or rigid gender roles can contribute to this unfavourable situation. The presence of children, too, often dampens women’s employment prospects significantly. This is an issue that has to be dealt with urgently, as a woman’s decision to have a child should not imply her exclusion from the labour market. The persistence of the gender pay gap, women’s lower representation in decision-making positions and the barriers facing immigrant women are all further issues we have to fight against.
Overcoming these challenges features high on the Commission’s political agenda.
First, although there is no definite target for female employment rates in the Europe 2020 strategy, it says that the 75% employment rate in the 20-64 age group should be achieved through the greater involvement of women. The Europe 2020 strategy also sets a target for reducing the number of Europeans at risk of poverty by at least 20 million by 2020, which can hardly be achieved without better inclusion of women.
Second, gender issues were prominent during the European Semester of enhanced policy coordination. The solid conclusion emerging from the first European Semester was that the Member States need to put in place a comprehensive policy mix to combat the gender employment gap and its main causes. Country-specific recommendations were issued to several Member States in 2011 and 2012 in this area. They have focused on the need to offer affordable, available and quality care services, to remove fiscal disincentives for second earners from the tax benefit system, to provide flexible working arrangements and to combat the gender pay gap.
The Commission has monitored actions taken by the Member States in this field and taken stock of progress made but has noted that additional efforts were necessary.
The Commission has instruments to help Member States design and implement more efficient actions in this area. Addressing equal treatment for women can be found in our few recent initiatives that underline the importance of a growing and inclusive workforce and a more equal society.
First, our engagement is reflected in the priorities of the strategy for equality between women and men, which defines actions addressing cross-cutting women-related issues. The gender pay gap in the EU is one of these. Its persistence indicates a need to tackle the underlying causes and to enforce the existing rules more effectively. The Commission will report on the implementation of its directive on equal pay matters in 2013.
The Commission has recently launched an initiative which will help to raise the awareness of companies about the business and economic case for gender equality, such as the gender pay gap. Training activities and exchanges of good practices for and by companies will be organised starting this autumn. Furthermore, we will mark again European Equal Pay Day in 2013."@en1
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