Brussels, 08/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - If Europe is to be competitive, it must show proof of creativity and innovation, and if women are not given the possibility to use their imagination and creativity to advantage, Europe will not achieve competitiveness. The strength of Europe therefore lies in women. On the occasion of the International Day for Women, on 8 March, these remarks by Equal Opportunities Commissioner Vladimir Spidla illustrate the importance that the Commissioner attaches to the role of women in the EU, and also the way such a role is perceived. To demonstrate the EU's commitment in favour of promoting equality between men and women, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, announced to the press on 8 March in Strasbourg the creation of an institute for gender equality, which should among other things “develop our awareness”. (EUROPE will thus return to the European Parliament's debate on equality, ten years after the Beijing conference).
This idea of equality is to be found in several EU policies - development, employment, justice and security - President Barroso recalled. “This mainstreaming is our European model of society and the Commission will continue to consolidate this idea”, the President assured (recalling that he had seven women in his team). Noting the progress accomplished over the past five years, such as the 1.5 point increase in the rate of female employment, Mr Barroso asserted that the participation of women on the labour market is the “key point of our strategy in favour of growth”. For this, however, Barroso continued, women must be better paid, and they must have good child minding facilities and a more balanced sharing of domestic duties in order to allow them to reconcile family and professional life. This “will ensure that parents still wish to have children”, Mr Barroso commented, announcing that the work would continue in consultation with Anna Zaborska, the Chairperson of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities at the EP, Marie-Josée Jacobs, the Luxembourg Minister for Equal Opportunities, and Vladimir Spidla himself.
The European institute for equality between men and women will be an independent centre of excellence at European level that will collect, analyse and diffuse reliable and comparable data, Commissioner Spidla explained, saying the institute will be a “strong sign of the EU's commitment for the promotion of equality”. The institute will stimulate research and the sharing of experience and will develop instruments intended to better integrate gender equality in all Community policies.
The “institute is not only a signal”, President Barroso said in answer to press questions, adding: “The idea is to have a specialised body that studies the question of gender equality in a scientific manner”. There are some difficulties over the name of the institute. Explaining the choice of the institute's name to the press, Mr Barroso recalled that the European Council had called for the creation of an “Institute for Gender Equality, the exact title in English”. “Personally, I prefer, in Portuguese, the Institute for Equality between Men and Women's Rights”, Mr Barroso said, giving his assurance that this title could be “translated according to the sensitivities of each country”. What matters, Mr Spidla put in, is to “give the right interpretation when one speaks of women's rights and to have reliable and accurate data”. Commissioner Spidla recalled that the seat of the Institute had not yet been decided (“personally, I find it would be very good to have it in one of the ten new Member States”) and that the financial allocation for the institute for the period 2007)2013 amounts to EUR 52.7 million.
In order to combat the increasing poverty of women, Mr Barroso said he has asked to “act at national level, to place emphasis on the promotion of women, with adequate legislation to fight against all kinds of discrimination”.