Brussels, 04/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - With the vote, on Monday 3 September, on the 2013 Union budget by the parliamentary committee for women's rights and gender equality (FEMM), the debate on the usefulness of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), based in Vilnius, was rekindled. Although members of the FEMM committee had agreed to an increase in funding proposed by the European Commission (initially 7%, but then brought down to 6% by member states), British MEP Marina Yannakoudakis, who is spokesperson for the Conservatives within the parliamentary committee, had previously submitted an amendment that was challenging to say the least but which was finally rejected. The amendment aimed at removing all funding from the EIGE. Yannakoudakis argued that the EIGE's work duplicated that of the Vienna-based EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, that of the member states and of the Commission's DG Employment. During an exchange of views by members of the EIGE forum of experts after the vote, one of the experts admitted that the rumour of a merger between the two bodies was “persistent”. Nonetheless, the same expert underlined that, should there be a merger, the question of women would probably be dealt with after xenophobia and after racism. “For now”, he stressed, “we can deal with the issue of women, and not solely in the case of racial discrimination, etc.” (MD/transl.jl)