Brussels, 16/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - Luxembourg's Equal Opportunities minister Lydia Mutsch and her counterpart at Family and Integration Corinne Cahen set out the Luxembourg Presidency's priorities in gender equality and integration of the Roma for the European Parliament's women's rights and gender equality committee on Tuesday 14 July.
In her speech, Mutsch noted that women have been more affected by the economic crisis since “they are more exposed to job insecurity, redundancy, poverty and social difficulties”. This is even more true for single mothers, the young, the elderly, immigrants and ethnic minorities, she said and called for an evaluation of the effects on women of each strategy developed to combat the crisis. She reiterated the need to maintain the European Commission's strategy for equality between women and men which expires this year. In her view, any proposals to integrate gender equality policy into other strategies would give the wrong message and would run counter to what has already been achieved. This “crucial” strategy would help to identify clearly the causes of gender inequality in all political fields, she stated.
Mutsch then set out four gender equality priorities of the Luxembourg Presidency: 1) balanced participation of men and women in economic and political decision-making; 2) increasing the rate of female employment; 3) maintaining the principle of “gender mainstreaming” across EU policies and institutions; 4) the role that the EU can play in promoting equal opportunities and women's rights around the world.
She also spoke about prostitution and violence against women and announced the Presidency's wish to speed up work on the ratification of the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, signed by 36 European states.
Family and Integration Minister Corinne Cahen provided an update on European initiatives for the integration of the Roma people, including the EU framework for national Roma integration strategies up to 2020, expressing the view that social integration and anti-discrimination policies are insufficient. She believes that integration is “a two-way process” and that it was “essential to raise citizens' awareness about the cultures, lifestyles and realities of all the Roma and related populations from Europe, whether they are settled or not”.
Several MEPs asked Mutsch about her intention to move forward the draft directive of 2008 on maternity leave, which has been blocked for several years and is threatened with being withdrawn by the European Commission in the context of its Better Regulation agenda. One MEP also shared her fears that the proposed directive on legal quotas for listed companies might go the same way. Others highlighted the importance of combating violence against women and called for a reduction in the pension gap. (Isabelle Lamberty)