| Author (Person) | Bower, Helen |
|---|---|
| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning |
| Series Title | In Focus |
| Series Details | 11.3.03 |
| Publication Date | 11/03/2003 |
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus |
|
The European Commission took the opportunity of International Women's Day on 5 March 2003 to publish its annual report on equal opportunities in the European Union, revealing that the EU has made significant progress in gender legislation but that women's participation in decision-making roles continues to be unsatisfactory. The report, the seventh on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union, presents an overview of the main developments and achievements at Member State and European level in 2002 in the area of gender equality. It examines in detail key new EU legislation and analyses the progress of the candidate countries in implementing existing EU law. The report also looks at women on the labour market both in the current EU Member States and in the candidate countries as well as progress in the principle of gender 'mainstreaming' in the EU, whereby gender equality is introduced into other EU policies such as external relations, education, environment, research and development. The 2002 achievements highlighted in the annual report included:
The report also sets out the priorities of the European Commission in relation to gender quality in 2003. In accordance with the priorities laid out in the Framework Strategy on Gender Equality (2001-2005), the European Commission will focus on the role of women in decision-making in 2003. In this context, the Greek and Italian presidencies will prepare an analysis of women in decision-making in economic life, with indictors. This will coincide with the setting-up of a European Commission database on decision makers, which will encompass both political and economic life. In addition, the European Commission will continue to promote gender mainstreaming in all policy areas whilst launching an open consultation on the recasting of the equal treatment Directive in early 2003, with a proposal scheduled for the end of the year. The Commission also intends to produce a report on the implementation of the Directive on parental leave, including considerations on why so many fathers have not exercised this right, and to prepare an analysis of gender gaps, including the pay gap, in 2003. Commenting on the report, Anna Diamantopoulou, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, emphasised the need for concrete action in addition to legislation:
Following on from the report, the European Commission published a Memo on 5 March 2003, which reported on the progress made in tackling the under-representation of women in policy and management jobs in the European Commission. In the context of the Commission's internal equal opportunities strategy, and specifically to improve the gender balance, targets were set for 2002, in particular for all policy and management posts (Directors-General, Directors, Heads of Units and administrators). The report finds that the European Commission either met or surpassed all its targets in 2002 with the appointment of one woman to a Director-general post, five women to Director posts, 24 women as Heads of Unit and the recruitment of 34 women from external competitions as administrators. The European Commission intends to set new targets for 2003, with the aim being to double the representation of women in senior management posts (A1 and A2) by the end of its mandate. Aside from the legislative arena and the EU's internal equal opportunities strategy, the European Commission has also been working to ensure that the idea of gender equality is debated in the context of the future of the European Union, within the European Convention. The lack of women's representation - only 1 out of five members are female - within the Convention has been criticised and to this end Commissioners Diamantopoulou and Reding (Education and Culture) organised a conference on 'Gender Equality and Europe's Future' in Brussels on 4 March 2003. Speaking to the conference, Anna Dimanatopoulou called for changes to the draft Constitution to include: gender-neutral language; the mention of equality between women and men as one of its key objectives; a legal basis for issues like the provision of services on a non-discriminatory basis; and a commitment to ensuring the full implementation of the human rights of women and girls. On the basis of ideas raised at the conference, the European Commission intends to put forward specific proposals on gender equality to the members of the Convention on the Future of the European Union. Helen Bower Compiled: Tuesday, 11 March 2003 The European Commission published its annual report on equal opportunities in the European Union on 5 March 2003, revealing that the EU has made significant progress in gender legislation but that women's participation in decision-making roles continues to be unsatisfactory. |
|
| Subject Categories | Employment and Social Affairs |
