Brussels, 22/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The fourth annual conference of "Committee Networks for Equal Opportunities in National and European Union Parliaments", which unfolded last week in Berlin, unanimously adopted a Declaration defining the targets to the future including cooperation between parliamentary committees or the monitoring of work done by the European Commission and Council in the aim of exercising political influence on decisions relating to equality between men and women.
The main theme of the debates, to which participated the European Socialist MEPs Maj Bruitt Theorin, President of the Women's Rights Committee, Lissy Groner, Karin Juncker, Joke Swiebel and Helen Torres Marques, as well as representatives from the scientific community, industry and NGOs covering the professional choices made by young women and young girls. The support of the private sector seems necessary, flexibility being considered as a good way of conciliating professional and family life. Starting from the realisation made by Mrs Theorin that "even with better qualifications than men, young women generally have difficulties gaining interesting and well paid positions", the parliamentarians felt necessary to: 1) generalise the principal "equal work, equal pay" while promoting female professional; 2) fight against violence against women and children and the trafficking of women; 3) allow equal participation in the fields of new technologies and information; 4) establish a timetable to reduce by 50% in 4 years, the gaps in the labour market.