Brussels, 29/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the report by Denmark's Lone Dybkjaer MEP (Det Radikale Venstre, Liberal Group, who also happens to be the wife of Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen) on the European Commission's annual reports on "equal opportunities for men and women in the European Union - 1997, 1998, 1999", the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities notes that these reports do not propose measures that could improve the situation. In these annual documents, there also lacks a horizontal analysis of the different cultural approaches of the position and role of women in family and social life. According to the rapporteur, progress actually achieved should be spelt out, indicating those policies that, in the long run, could contribute to resolving certain problems in suspense. Whence the question she asks: "Is equality really progressing or do we simply make multiple statements of intent, policies and support measures?" This report will be the subject of a debate at Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday 5 October.
Through this report, the Parliamentary Committee urges the Commission and Member States to: 1) in the context of the EU's external affairs, ensure that women's rights are guaranteed; 2) examine how new sectors, like information and communications technology for example, can create job opportunities for women; 3) ensure that legislative initiatives do not have negative effects for women's participation in the labour market. It especially requests of the Commission that it: 1) includes in its annual report, and this from the very next one, resolutions adopted by the EP on the subject; 2) undertakes surveys into: the level of women's training, the impact of part-time work and atypical work on remuneration, social contributions, female pensions, and on the reality of gender equality in relation to social, tax and inheritance law.