Brussels, 10/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - Progress has been made in equality between men and women, but progress is slow, according to the report by Marc Tarabella (S&D, Belgium), which was adopted by the plenary session of the European Parliament on Tuesday 10 March (441 votes in favour, 205 against and 52 abstentions).
“The verdict is less than glorious: change is too slow and women's rights are suffering the effects of this (…). The European Parliament backs the fight for wage equality and efforts to combat violence against women, agree on maternity leave proposals and safeguard access to abortion”, Marc Tarabella commented.
Every year, the committee on women's rights of the EP prepares a report to assess progress made in equality between men and women. In adopting the Tarabella report, the EP assessed the situation in 2013 and tackled the main political challenges: salary and pension gaps, women's positions in political and economic decision-making, the impact of the crisis on women (poverty), the work/life balance, childcare systems and maternity and paternity leave, rights to sexual and reproductive health (contraception and abortion) and combating violence against women.
The EP recommends building gender equality and women's rights into policy-making and budget procedures. More specifically, the MEPs call for: an enforcement of the directive on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation, the unblocking of draft legislation on women on boards and the promotion of educational policies that encourage women to make their careers in science, technology and ICT, and tackling the problem of women in part-time, low-paid and precarious work. Given that more flexible working arrangements can improve women's participation in the labour market, but may also affect their wages, the MEPs encourage women and men to share family responsibilities. Fathers should have the right to paid maternity leave of at least 10 days, they add. They call on the Council of Ministers to end the deadlock among the EU member states on the draft maternity leave directive, which has been blocked since 2010, and upon the European Commission to offer EU member states more financial support for affordable childcare systems. On sexual and reproductive health, the MEPs stressed that women should have control over their own sexual and reproductive rights and health, with easy access to contraception and abortion. (Isabelle Lamberty)