Brussels, 09/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - To mark the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on Tuesday 8 March the European Parliament adopted three reports, one on gender equality, another on female poverty and the third on reducing health inequalities.
The report on gender equality in the EU in 2010, drafted by Mariya Nedelcheva (EPP, Bulgaria) was adopted by 366 votes to 200, with 32 abstentions. The need to narrow the gender pay gap, to get more women in decision-making positions and to raise the female employment rate are among key points, along with the provision of better child care facilities and child-related leave. The report highlights that if women's employment, part-time employment and productivity rates were similar to men's, GDP would increase by 30%.
Only 3% of major companies are chaired by a woman. Member states should, therefore, take effective measures, such as quotas, to ensure greater representation for women in major listed companies and on the management boards of companies in general, say MEPs, citing Norway as a positive example, followed by Spain and France. Parliament also called for binding targets to ensure equal representation of women and men in politics, saying further efforts must be made at EU, national, regional and municipal levels.
MEPs noted that the pay gap between men and women still averages 18% in the EU and even exceeds 30% in one member state. They urged member states to implement equal pay for equal work laws properly and calling on the European Commission to impose sanctions on those that fail to do so.
The report on eliminating poverty, drafted by Rovana Plumb (S&D, Romania) was adopted by show of hands. MEPs said that nearly 85 million people in the EU were living below the poverty line in 2008, and 17% of all women in the EU were living in poverty.
MEPs called for: - recovery plans to have a gender perspective, with the adoption of specific measures to promote and encourage female employment; - macroeconomic, social and labour-market policies to be reformed, so as to guarantee a minimum income as well as economic and social justice for women.
The report on reducing health inequalities by Edite Estrela (S&D, Portugal) was adopted by 379 votes to 228, with 49 abstentions. Parliament underlined that everyone should have access to healthcare systems and affordable healthcare. The specific needs of vulnerable groups such as women, older patients, undocumented migrants, ethnic minorities, need to be taken better into account.
The EP noted that life expectancy has been shown to vary across EU member states by 14.2 years for men and 8.3 years for women (Eurostat figures for 2007 and 2010 respectively). Also within countries, groups of different education levels and social situations have widely differing health prospects. (G.B./transl.rt)