At its plenary session on Tuesday 14 October, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted the opinion tabled by Sweden’s Carina Ohlsson (PES) on the European Commission’s ‘roadmap’ for women’s rights (see EUROPE 13595/1).
While the text welcomes the guidelines and declaration of principles for an egalitarian society, the CoR nevertheless urges both the Commission and the Member States to do more.
And with good reason: the Committee is calling for local and regional authorities to be fully recognised as “strategic partners in the development and implementation of the project” and, to this end, for them to be given the financial and human resources to match the demands on the ground.
“Gender equality (is) a daily reality shaped in our cities and regions”, said Carina Ohlsson, quoted in a press release.
In addition, local and regional authorities are calling for the status of gender equality as a fundamental European value to be “systematically integrated into all EU programmes under the next long-term budget 2028-2034 (Multiannual Financial Framework)”.
In addition, the CoR insists on the adoption of a definition of rape based on the absence of consent, as well as on guaranteeing access to quality healthcare, including sexual and reproductive rights and abortion, throughout the EU.
The other recommendations concern the fight against gender violence and misogyny online, equal pay, fairness in family responsibilities, support for female entrepreneurship and more monitoring mechanisms.
See opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/iyt (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)