Brussels, 05/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - To coincide with International Women's Day on 8 March, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and his vice-president with responsibility for equal opportunities, Viviane Reding, made a political declaration before the press in Brussels, bearing witness to the Commission's commitment to gender equality, with its "Women's Charter".
President Barroso, who believes that "it is only through sustainable equality that we will be able to offer the citizens better living standards", pointed out that "equality is just as valid for men as it is for women. We must therefore promote gender equality in Europe and put this at the heart of the EU 2020 strategy ". This charter, which will be followed up by a new gender equality strategy to be adopted by the Commission in mid-2010, contains five principles. It aims, José Manuel Barroso announced, to promote: (1) equality on the employment market and equal economic independence for men and women, via the EU 2020 strategy; (2) the principle of "equal pay for equal work", working together with the member states to bring down the salary gap between men and women by a considerable amount over the next five years; (3) equality in the decision-making process via EU incentives; (4) dignity, integrity and eradication of violence based on sex by means of a detailed framework of action; (5) gender equality beyond the borders of the EU, discussing the issue within external relations and with the international organisations. Barroso welcomed the fact that the member states had ensured a decent proportion of women in its new Commission: "Currently, we have nine women out of 27 member states of the College and 53% of our staff are women. I appointed the first ever woman to the post of secretary general of the Commission, Catherine Day!" The president added that the number of women with a high-level position within his institution has grown from 8% in 1998 to 20% at the end of 2008.
"We do not see gender equality as a women's policy! Equality will not become reality unless men are involved", said Viviane Reding. In the view of the first-vice-president of the Commission, "this Charter is our work, our label for gender equality, it is our commitment to ensure that this equality comes out of its box and extends to all European proposals and political actions". Reding stressed that the EU 2020 strategy had an extremely strong "equality" dimension. Gender equality should be integrated "in a collegial spirit. We will work together at the Commission to ensure that gender equality is fully integrated within this House. This is the start of a new Commission!", she concluded.
This strategy will provide a coordinated framework for cross-cutting action in all fields of activity of the EU, a press release stresses. This initiative comes 15 years after the adoption of the Beijing action programme, following the fourth United Nations conference on women. It comes further to the commitment taken by President Barroso in his speech before the European Parliament on 5 September 2009, to create a Women's Charter. (G. B./transl.fl)