Brussels, 20/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament is urging the Commission and member states to encourage women entrepreneurs as a means to promote “economic growth, job creation and women's empowerment”. In a report adopted on Tuesday 19 January, MEPs suggested introducing concrete strategies at national and regional levels to encourage an entrepreneurial culture among women.
The nonlegislative resolution was prepared by Barbara Matera (EPP, Italy), who is concerned by the abnormally low entrepreneurial rates among women. MEPs noted that in 2012, women accounted for barely 31% of entrepreneurs (10.3 million) in the EU28 and that women entrepreneurs are more often likely to operate in sectors considered as being less profitable.
In this context, MEPs are calling on the Commission and member states to get rid of the barriers to women entrepreneurs, at both social and economic levels. Therefore, they are requesting that the Commission proposes, before the end of this year, concrete measures (particularly legislative proposals) to increase the level of women's participation in the labour market, through a better balance between professional and private life. They are also urging member states, if they have not already done so, to look at the possibility of introducing paternity leave. They also underline the importance of the comprehensive protection of social rights in the very specific situation involving freelance workers “without which, any innovative and inclusive entrepreneurship is impossible”.
In the context of access to financing, the European Parliament is urging governments to ensure that self-employed workers or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are granted fair access to funding, irrespective of their gender. It is proposing that the Commission introduces “quotas” for men and women in all areas of targeted assistance provided to disadvantaged and underrepresented groups, “in order to guarantee progress towards parity in the domain of entrepreneurship”. The report was adopted by 532 votes in favour, 100 against, with 80 abstentions, after almost all the different paragraphs had been put to a vote. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)