Brussels, 30/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - While having adopted the report of Maria Antonio Aviles Perea (EPP-DE-Spain) on the annual report on equal opportunities for men and women in the EU in 2002, the European Parliament regretted that within the framework of the European employment strategy, few Member States had made an effort to integrate sexual equality into their 2000 action plans. Parliament will forward innovating proposals to the Commission to encourage Member States to improve this situation and: ensure the transposition of the Community Acquis on women's' rights; encourage candidate countries to put into place institutional and administrative structures to guarantee that equal opportunities are respected, notably in the economic and social fields. Confronted with the explosion in the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation, and domestic violence, the EP demands that the EU and candidate countries take urgent measures to instigate appropriate penalties and develop support mechanisms and protection for victims, as well as attacking the structural causes, such as poverty and the women's precarious position in society.